Magic under the Influence
by Catwho
Summary: Friends don't let friends drink and use magic, at least not without a permit! The courtship of Cana and Bacchus continues, with lots of inebriated shenanigans for your reading consumption. Cana's life will always be filled with love, laughter, and drinks. Lots and lots of drinks.
1. Magic Under the Influence

**Sometime before the Tenrou Island arc...**

* * *

One of the unspoken rules of Fairy Tail was that after you got trashed at the bar, you didn't go outside for a while. You were supposed to pass out, be tucked away on a table or on the floor by anyone still sober, and ride out the night until the guild re-opened when the cleaning and carpenter crew came in the next morning.

Part of this was lax enforcement of the legal drinking age within the guild. Within its walls, Makarov was officially the guardian of everyone who had been adopted as an orphan, and he loved defying the local Magnolia civilian government just as much as he loved defying the magic council. So anyone was allowed to drink, so long as they stayed within the walls. Cana had started when she was just fourteen, and had been building up her impressive tolerance ever since.

But the other reason everyone was supposed to stay inside was because most people lost control of their magic after a certain point of intoxication.

Cana was an exception to that rule. She had obtained her MUI permit - Magic Under the Influence - as soon as she turned 18, turning into the complete and total officially sanctioned lush that she was. The test had been extensive, and as a result, she was not only pretty much allowed to drink with impunity anywhere she wished (because she had proven she had total control of her magic even on the verge of alcohol poisoning), but she had gone to the next level and become certified in teaching MUI classes for those caught in violation of the laws. It was a good way to pick up extra money on the side.

She never, ever thought that she was going to have to use that knowledge on her own guild.

She stared at the collection of hungover, pitiable mages in front of her. The party the night before had been one of the biggest drunken bouts in Fairy Tail history, and that was saying something. When the party had gone outside in the town due to someone's great drunk idea, the parade of carousing mages had accidentally lain waste to a bridge, the church, the park, and a few other local landmarks. No one was injured, but that was pure luck. They'd have to pay the town for the destruction out of their wages, as usual, but the entire incident had brought Fairy Tail under questioning from the local government as well.

MUI was illegal without a permit for a reason.

"Lucy," she said, and the stellar spirit mage looked up quickly, then down guiltily when she saw Cana's accusing finger. "You ended up drinking a beer followed by four shots of tequila. You vomited all over Natsu's shoes. What rule of drinking did you violate?"

"Beer before liquor, never been sicker," Lucy quoted miserably. She was still faintly green. It was always a harsh lesson. "Liquor before beer, you're in the clear..."

The angry finger went to the next guilty mage at the table. "Gray! You drank twenty beers. _Twenty_! Wendy had to use emergency healing on you because your pulse had dropped to critical levels!"

Gray scowled at looked away.

"How large is a single serving of beer?"

"Sixteen ounces," Gray muttered.

"And how much alcohol is in it?"

"An ounce..."

Cana sighed. "No. The answer is that it depends on the beer. Some of the high gravity ones approach two ounces. You almost _died_, Gray."

Gray had the presence of mind to join Lucy in looking at his feet.

"Juvia," Cana said sharply, and the water mage cowered under Cana's glare. "I don't even know how it's possible for you to get drunk, but rumor has it that you 'took advantage' of Gray's comatose state after Wendy healed him."

"J-Juvia did no such thing!" she protested, but blushing as she stole a glance at an equally blushing Gray. They'd woken up in a rather compromising position that morning, Gray muttering about being cold and wet.

"Everyone saw you snuggling him like a teddy bear _for hours_. Remember, if they're not conscious, it's not consensual."

"Yes...Cana-san."

Cana rounded upon the next victim. "Natsu! You let Happy get drunk!"

"It was a party," Natsu said defensively.

"Happy is _six _and he's a _feline._ Exceed. Whatever." She waved her hand in annoyance as she tried to get the right word. "Alcohol is poisonous to cats. He can eat fermented fish, but not fermented grains. And you had eight flaming shots yourself, which you proceeded to throw up, _on fire,_ on the elementary school playground."

Natsu stared at the ceiling, but then burped a small spout of flame. He had the good graces to look embarrassed, even as Happy patted him consolingly.

"Erza!"

Erza held up her MUI permit silently, and Cana sighed. "Yes yes, you were designated to keep control of them last night. And you didn't." Cana crossed her arms across her chest. "You know you can get your permit suspended for that, right?"

It was quite possibly the first time in Erza's life that she looked ashamed.

"Mirajane! I know you love making everyone happy, but the law says you should not serve someone who already looks intoxicated. Which was _everyone._"

Demon Mirajane smiled innocently at Cana, her eyes glittering within her angelic face. "Including you?"

Cana glared at her through narrowed eyes. "If I ever somehow _accidentally destroy a building,_ then yes, even me." She squared herself and put her hands on her hips, giving them one final berating. "It says a lot about your mental states when even _Gajeel_ is doing less destruction!"

"That's 'cuz he'd already gone home to dream about Levy," Happy said with a snicker.

"Hush, Happy," Erza said softly, and the Exceed shut up quickly.

Cana sighed. "If something like this happens again, Fairy Tail will lose its liquor license." For the first time that morning, Cana looked sad instead of angry. "And what will I do if I have to... be sober?" Before the tears could spill over from her eyes, she got a hold of herself. "So! No more drunk magic on the streets! Am I understood?"

"Yes, Cana," they all grumbled in unison.

The impromptu MUI class split up into the normal various factions. Cana found herself sitting at the bar with Mirajane pouring her a nice, plain glass of water. Then pouring one for herself. Everyone was still a bit hungover, after all.

"Maybe you were a little too harsh on them," Mirajane said cautiously, stirring a few drops of lemon juice into her glass.

"Maybe," Cana agreed, and took a sip of water. "But the Master is already in enough trouble with the city." She drummed her fingers on the bar. "Honestly, a level 1 MUI permit isn't hard to get, but it takes a severe amount of control on your magic to hold onto it once you hit the higher blood alcohol levels for the level 3 and 4 ones." She took another sip, and pulled out one of her cards, spinning it idly in her hand. "I'm the only person I know of that actually gets _better_ at magic the more I imbibe."

Mirajane looked off in the distance, an unreadable emotion flickering across her face. "There are others," she said cryptically, but did not divulge further information to Cana.

"Tch," Cana said, then downed the rest of her water in one go. "Ne, Mira, give me a tequila sunrise. I need some wake up juice."

"Coming right up," Mirajane said sweetly to the guild's resident lush.

* * *

**A/N: A minor fic format rant about some of the wildly inaccurate statements regarding alcohol I've seen in FT fics. I'm a real life Cana, but even I'm ready to vomit after 5-6 beers or a bottle of wine. (And trust me, vomiting up alcohol at 3AM in the bathroom of the 24 hour burger joint is one of the sorriest places you can find yourself...) Drunken antics are fun, but please don't encourage alcohol poisoning. Keep the number of beverages your drunken FT compatriots consume to reasonable numbers, and when they do over-indulge, keep them INSIDE the guild! **


	2. Toys

**This was supposed to be a one shot. Then the plot bunnies attacked. So much for that...**

**Picking up sometime after the Grand Magic Games arc...**

* * *

Cana had a new toy.

"Hit me," she slurred to Mirajane, already deep into her cups for the evening. Mirajane slid a shot of rum toward her.

There was a crowd around her, watching in breathless awe as she downed the shot in one go, and then placed a small lacrima gadget in front of her face.

She blew into it for a few seconds, and then it gave a tiny ring before showing a number.

"Up to .20," she said, and thrust her arms into the air triumphantly, as everyone politely applauded. "I better call it quits; it'll actually climb up above .25 if I keep going, and I really don't wanna puke all over the bar."

"Awwww," the crowd said collectively, before quickly dispersing since the demonstration was over.

With a satisfied sigh, Cana leaned on the bar, spinning her new lacrima breathalyzer around her finger. It had cost her about ten thousand jewels; not too bad for new lacrima technology. Officially, it was supposed to be used by law enforcement for mages under the influence, but her own curiosity combined with her level four educational permit meant she was officially allowed to use one as well. And it was a lot of fun to play with!

"Point oh two per shot," she said, sounding pleased with herself. "That means ten shots or so before I get nauseous. Nice to be able to quantify it."

"Really? I thought you had better tolerance than that," Mirajane said.

"For beer and wine, yes. Ten shots is the equivalent of at least two full bottles of wine, and maybe ten beers as well." She slid down further onto the bar stool.

Cana was a lush, not an alcoholic. She enjoyed the taste, but if she had to sober up because there was no alcohol available, she'd survive without deliriums tremens or even a fever or the sweats. She chalked that up to genetics; Gildartz was also famous for being able to hold his liquor better than almost everyone else.

With a blissful sigh she dropped her head gracefully onto the counter, the world spinning pleasantly. She loved the feeling of being drunk - but not too drunk. One or two more drinks and she would descend from the realm of being a funny, lovable drunk to a vomiting, wasted wretch. It was a fine line, and for most people that line was around the .2% mark. At .25, people became violently ill, and by .30, there was a serious risk of alcohol poisoning and death.

"Ten beers," she muttered happily. "That's my limit."

Mirajane smiled at Cana, but then whopped her lightly with a spoon. "Next time you drink straight from the barrel again, I'm going to hold you to your 'two wine bottles' limit you've just confirmed."

"Yes, yes," Cana sad, too languid to bother arguing. "You know," she murmured, "turns out Bacchus can go up to almost .30 before he hits the nauseous mark, according to another one of the Puppies" she said, matter-of-factly. Ever since the games, Fairy Tail had reserved the right to call Quatro Ceberus by their quite fairly earned nickname. "I didn't stand a chance back at the Grand Magic Games."

"You like him," Mirajane teased, a certain glimmer in her eyes.

"Oh hell no!" Cana sat upright, and slammed her fist into the bar a little too hard. "I still haven't forgiven that puppy dog for walking away with my top and leaving my tits hangin' out for the entire guild to see." She seethed quietly, still bitter about that loss, even if Elfman had avenged her honor a short while later. "I'll never forgive that bastard in a million years."

Mirajane said nothing, but tipped her head toward a table on the far side of the guild, where Gajeel and Levy were sitting awfully close to one another, sharing an ice cream sundae with each other.

"Yeah yeah, that was different," Cana insisted, while Mirajane only laughed. "Mirajane Strauss, I _know_ that gleam in your eye. You're gonna try to hook us up!" Cana stood up from her stool, a bit unsteadily, and leaned over the bar to glare at the silver haired barmaid. "I'm never going to date that dog breath bastard, so don't even think about it."

As an answer to that, Mirajane held up a mission request. She often kept back missions that were particularly suited to one guild member alone, to ensure the chance of the mission's success.

Cana narrowed her eyes and took the sheet of paper from her.

"It's a mission only you could do," Mirajane said sweetly. "They're looking for strong, Level 4 MUI mages to help guard the crowds at a beer festival."

Cana glanced over the sheet. The pay was surprisingly generous for a single weekend's work, including free accommodations and all the beer she could drink.

"Why are you... ah, crap," Cana said, annoyed, as her alcohol addled brain brought up the factoid that had probably reminded Mirajane about the kept back mission. "Bacchus is Level 4 MUI as well."

"Oh, I had forgotten about that fact," Mirajane sang innocently.

"Damn you, you sneaky bar wench!" Cana said with a sulk, but she kept the mission anyway. Free beer was just too awesome to pass up.

She read the fine print on the mission slip as she stumbled back to Fairy Hills. She really did _not_ want to see Bacchus. He pissed her off especially, because if it hadn't been for that whole juvenile prank with her bikini, he'd _totally_ be her type. She loved all men, really, but it was older drunks who interested her the most. Damn if he didn't have a delicious body with a warped, crappy personality to match.

Argh! Stop thinking about him! she told her mind.

The beer festival was in two weeks. A weekend in the university town of Bristlecone didn't seem like a bad deal at all, and she was most certainly not going to let Bacchus and his too hot body spoil it.

She let herself into her apartment and fell onto her bed, dropping the mission unheeded onto the floor, letting the world spin merrily as she drifted off into a pink bubbled sleep.

* * *

**Reviews feed authors and encourage us to write. Likes and favorites are great too, but a review is the nectar of the gods. Even just pointing out typos is nice...**


	3. Images

Mirajane was a skilled bartender, but in a lot of respects she was unimaginative. She'd never had any formal bar-tending school when she had her magic sealed after the disappearance of Lisanna, but had taken up the role to support herself and her little brother. Her modeling on the side was also just part of the way to make ends meet. She was a good friend and made some of the best martinis in Magnolia, but if Cana ever wanted to experiment, she had to go elsewhere.

She loved cruising bars in new towns. Whenever she traveled, she took routes that wandered off the beaten patch, in search of new pleasures. She had stopped halfway between Magnolia and Bristlecone in a little town famous for its wineries, but her real interest was in the fully stocked bar at one of the restaurants.

"What's your best drink?" she said with a sly smile to the bartender, who raised an eyebrow but continued drying his glass without missing a beat.

"We're a wine town," he answered curtly. "Would you like to try a wine tasting flight?"

"Pfft," Cana said. "Chances are, whatever you've had I've already tried it." She touched her purse, thinking of the precious magical cards instead as well as her all important MUI permit. She leaned over the bar, narrowing her eyes, and displaying her assets to their best advantage. "But what I need is a good cocktail."

The bartender had stopped polishing the glass this time.

He cleared his throat, trying not to look directly at the chest she had mooshed so prominently against the bar.

"All right," he said. "I'll start you off with a grasshopper."

* * *

Some time later, she and the bartender were chatting away like old chums. She'd had a grasshopper, an old fashioned, a side car, a martini made a little differently than Mirajane's classic style one, a margarita, an amaretto sour, some weird blue thing called an 'Arcturian Sunset,' and she had finished it all off with a giant frozen mudslide sundae.

"Honestly, miss, I can't see where you put it all," the bartender said, admiring her shapely figure.

"Oh, you know, I work out," she said, telling a half truth. This was not a magely town - everyone who knew about magic knew that mages burned off their calories through magic generation, even if they weren't true physical mages, which was why Erza could tear through a cake a day without gaining an ounce. She slurped her mudslide happily.

"We'll be closing up shortly. Did you already have plans to stay somewhere?" he asked, then held up his hands, embarrassed at his forwardness. Awww, he was shy. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No, it's fine," she waved away his concerns. "I was planning on finding a hotel, but I didn't realize how late it was already." She glanced outside at the twilight. She seriously considered his unspoken offer.

The bartender was not really her type (too young, too sober), but maybe she just needed a good lay to get her traitorous mind off the upcoming meeting with Bacchus. The bartender before here was most certainly interested, but...

"Actually, I think I'll stick with that plan." She dropped a large wad of jewels on the counter, and then leaned forward to give the kind bartender a sweet peck on the cheek. "Thanks for the drinks and the company, I had a great time."

She had to leave. _Now._

Once she had left the bar, she slammed her fist into the wall angrily. Damn that Mirajane! Ever since she put the image of her dating Bacchus into her head a few weeks ago, it had taunted Cana.

Every time she closed her eyes when she was drunk, she imagined his splendid body, his muscles rippling in the sunlight during his fight against Elfman, his fists flying faster than the eyes could watch. It wouldn't be fair to sleep with another man while her body was still craving what it couldn't, _shouldn't_ have.

Forbidden fruit.

He was off limits. He was a lech, but beyond that, he had _no_ sense of shame. He did have a twisted sort of honor, but that apparently didn't extend to women.

Yet, the fact that Levy *had* found happiness with Gajeel also ate into her resolve. That thought was also Mirajane's fault. The parallels were not lost on Cana.

But that was different, she told herself, gritting her teeth. Gajeel was truly sorry for what he had done. There was no way in hell that puppy regretted his actions.

Feeling the need for release, Cana pulled out her cards, and tossed the Silence card up in the air, releasing a bubble that muted the air around her.

Then she screamed a scream of frustration that would have otherwise woken the dead.

Ah, _that_ was better.

And she felt even better after that when she was able to trash two hoodlums who made the stupid attempt to try to mug her.

Much calmer, she stumbled her way to the nearest hotel. She would _not_ act nervous when she met him this weekend. She would _not._

She glanced up at the sky, her cheeks flushed with a heat that couldn't entirely be blamed on the alcohol. "Papa, help me," she whispered.

* * *

**Thanks to Demonlover8815, PhoenixedDragon, Helekiller2, Gentleheart, and Saya Moonshadow for the reviews. Sorry the chapters are short, but part of that is just the way I wrote. I could stitch 3-4 of these little scenes together and make you wait a week, or I can pop em out when I have a chance and get them posted right away. Also, I'm trying not to get M rated just yet, but Cana's personality involves many of the seven deadly sins no matter how you swing it.**


	4. Staff Meeting

**Thanks as always for the reviews. I've thought about eventually yanking this up to M rating level in later chapters, but I don't think the alcohol alone warrants it a "mature" rating. After all, the legal drinking age is 16 in some countries, and it's 15 in the world of Fairy Tail. I think teenagers would do well to learn not only about the very real dangers of alcohol abuse, but also the joys when it is appreciated in moderation. (Once you turn 21 in the States, I recommend going to a formal class on beer, wine, and cocktail instruction. Otherwise you will be absolutely lost with all the thousands of possible drinks out there.)**

**There are minor OCs in this chapter. If you're like me and you hate OCs, I apologize. Pretend they're furniture.**

* * *

The town of Bristlecone's train station dropped her off not far from the site of the festival, which turned out to be a small inn attached to a tavern with a permanent covered pavilion and several tents. She had arrived early, as the mission specified, so all the beer vendors were still setting things up. Insulated in the magely world as she was, she often forgot that ninety percent of the population of Fiore functioned without any magic at all, and only a fraction of the remaining ten percent was strong enough to make it as a career mage.

This festival was meant for the non mages, the normal people of Fiore. And it was being run by them.

Cana didn't really feel a sense of superiority over the mundanes, she mused as she found her way to the mission's designated meeting room, deep within the basement of the inn's main building. There were plenty of things that non-mages could do that she was incapable of doing even with her magic... and well, _someone_ had to make the beer and wine.

She paused outside the room, tempted to use a card to make a peephole in the door. She had resigned herself to dealing with Bacchus and her totally unreasonable attraction to him this weekend, but she was still not looking forward to the meeting.

Maybe, she thought with a glimmer of hope, he'll be such an ass that I can remind my body why he's not an option.

With a fortifying deep breath, she pushed on the heavy oak door, and entered a small lounge. There were two other mages there, one she recognized as being the professor who acted as the instructor for MUI permits - no doubt the one who had issued the mission - and a plump girl in her late twenties with glasses and a frilly dress. No Bacchus.

"Hello, Professor Mori," she said with a small wave.

"Cana Alberona!" the professor called, clearly delighted to see her. "I'm glad you could make it, m'dear."

The sweet old man - too old for dating material; he was Makarov's age - gave her a friendly kiss on the hand and then settled her down on a couch next to the chubby girl. Cana eyed her warily. Most mages only got fat if they didn't actually use their magic all that often.

"This is Susan; she is one of the researchers at the university here in town and one of my graduate assistants. Susan, this is Cana, one of the Lost Mages from Fairy Tail."

"I saw you at the Grand Magic Games," Susan said, sounding pleasantly friendly. "You're the one that broke the magic power finder!" She clapped her hands, almost as in delight. "I'll have to recalibrate the sensors for our next version."

"Ah," Cana said, as it suddenly clicked. The university's major contribution was in lacrima based electronics, like her little breathalyzer. This Susan chick was probably an academic, not a working mage.

"Susan is our latest MUI level 4," the instructor said, sounding like a proud grandfather. "Cana's... well, you've had it for eight of our years... I'm not sure how that works out with the 'incident'..."

"Confusing, isn't it?" Cana said with her signature smirk. "Our sense of time is all scrambled. I've had it for about a year, in my personal time line." She crossed one of her legs, trying to look as casual as possible. "Who else is coming?"

"I'm not sure," the professor said, looking thoughtful. "We sent that mission to every guild with a Level 4, but you all don't really have to RSVP, or anything."

A small part of Cana was almost disappointed that Bacchus might not be showing up. Stupid mind, she scolded herself. You should be ecstatic that the puppy dog might not be paying us a visit.

She turned back to the plump student beside her. "So what is your magic?"

The girl looked down shyly. "I'm just good at lacrima electronics. I'm not a fighting mage."

Well, that much was obvious. Many of the people with latent magical talents had skills that did not lend themselves to battle. There were tactical mages, like Levy and Hibiki, who were nonetheless useful to have around in a battle, but neither of them had the physical stamina to stand in a battle on their own for long (although Levy was getting better with Gajeel's help.) They were incredibly useful as part of a team, where they could provide support and aid to the fighters, and make them better than they were alone. The best teams always had a combination of front line and back line jobs.

"Don't let her modesty fool you," the Professor Mori said, clapping the grad student on the shoulder. "She can concentrate magic into lacrima in any size or shape. If you wanted to, you could probably call it 'lacrima-make,' but it's in much smaller quantities than most Make-style magic."

"Oh," Cana said, thinking that a certain parallel world would just _love_ to get its hands on her for that ability. "So you make batteries, then?"

The older girl laughed. "I suppose so. I can also imbue my lacrima with specific properties, to make it do interesting things."

Cana glanced at the clock, which had just slipped to the hour mark. "Hey prof, when are we starting?"

The professor glanced at the clock as well. "Just a few more minutes, I think. I'm still hoping for at least two more of you."

"Bret should be coming any second," Susan said.

On cue, there was a tentative knock at the door, then a tall, rather spindly man came in, with a head as hairless and shiny as any Cana had ever seen. He carefully shut the door behind him. Most definitely not Bacchus. She let out a sigh that was neither relief nor frustration.

"Hi honey!" Susan piped up, sitting upright.

"Ah, it's Dr. Allstone!"

The man waved away the honorific. "Please, call me Bret."

"Pleased to meet you," Cana said, keeping her tone polite but distant. He was her preferred age range, but he was _not_ her type at all. And, judging from the little hearts floating between the plain graduate student beside her and the young professor in front of her, it didn't matter much anyway.

He plopped down beside his significant other and they immediately started snuggling.

"This is Cana Alberona, the card mage from Fairy Tail," the professor said, continuing his role as mediator. "And this is Susan's husband, one of the university's newest professors, Dr. Bret."

He waved politely to Cana. "Card magic! Interesting. I do rune magic." He looked embarrassed. "But I'm better at teaching than I am fighting."

"Ah, one of the Fairy Tail mages does rune magic," Cana said.

"Freid Justine," the bald man said with a nod. "He is the undisputed master of battle runes."

Cana smirked at the praise of the leader of the Raijinshu. Freed was one of the stronger mages in the guild by most measures, and it seemed natural that a teacher of ancient runes would know of one of the most successful students of the art.

"Well, it looks as though we'll have to go with just three-"

At that moment, the door slammed open again, and Cana felt her heart leap to her throat.

Bacchus stood in the doorway of the lounge room, taking up most of it with his enormous body.

Damn!

He gave them all a lopsided grin. "Surely you weren't gonna start without me, prof?"

"Bacchus! So glad you could make it. Good, there's four of you now. Please, have a seat."

The couch was fully occupied, so Bacchus settled down in the armchair that was perpendicular to it, closest to Cana.

"Yo, everyone," he said casually.

"This is Bacchus of Quattro Ceberus," Professor Mori said to introduce everyone.

"We've met," Cana replied flatly.

"Oh yeah, Cana nee-san and I go wayyyyy back," Bacchus said, giving her an extra leer for good measure. He'd clearly already been drinking that morning. Cana made a faint "tcheh" sound and pointedly looked away from him.

He was _oozing_ masculinity and sexuality and it pissed her off.

"Pleased to meet you, Mr. Bacchus," Susan said, and her husband leaned forward to shake the giant hand of the martial arts mage. Cana almost let out a guffaw when she saw the enormous paw of Bacchus crush the hand of the academic. The overgrown puppy just didn't know his own strength.

"All right, you all know me anyway, so let's get started." Professor Mori coughed into his hand. "As you know, the MUI program was started by the Guild Council a few decades ago in response to the reality that most mages lose control of their magic while under the influence, but a select few of you gain control, strength, and raw power."

Cana thought back to her last Fairy Glitter, which she had performed while rather tipsy and which had broken the MPF.

"Your role during this festival is just to keep an eye and ear out for any amateur mages trying to perform parlor tricks, or any professional mages who are publicly intoxicated and don't have a permit." He cleared his throat. "The alcohol will only be served for three hours each day, but the party goers will no doubt spread into the surrounding town. If you catch anyone, you are to restrain them before they do any damage, under the authority of Level 4 MUI. I know for a fact that we'll have around a dozen level 3s wandering around, so don't assume that anyone who is doing magic while drunk is doing so illegally."

He handed each of them a festival T-Shirt, which fortunately would change to the appropriate size once the wearer donned it - otherwise it probably wouldn't have fit across Bacchus's broad shoulders.

"The festival starts up in an hour, and we'd like you to continue working until six this evening. After that, you are free to come back to this room and pick up your hotel assignments and then grab some dinner."

Cana raised her hand, feeling like a student for quite possibly the first time in her life. "Are we permitted to drink during the festival itself?"

"Of course," Professor Mori said with a wink. "You're MUI Level Fours, are you not?"

The meeting didn't last much longer. The professor showed them where the security stations were in case they had to fight anyone - or break up any fights - and the emergency exits. Then they were released to the festival to go have fun. They were just supposed to wander and mingle and keep an eye out for anyone doing anything obviously stupid. Easy peasy.

As soon as they were released, Cana fled to the other side of the festival, to the cask ale pavilion. She simply slipped her T-shirt over her bikini top, but Bacchus and the others were held up briefly as they changed clothes.

There was a line extending all the way around the building already. Cana whistled appreciatively, and then leaned against one of the tables that had carefully aged barrels of ale, tapped and ready to be served.

"It's going to be a busy day," the server behind the table said. All the volunteers were wearing T-shirts similar to the one Cana wore, indicating they were staff. "Want to start off with some whiskey aged golden ale?"

Cana smiled at the young woman. "You just read my mind."

Bacchus or no Bacchus, this was going to be a good day.


	5. Rune Trap

**Why is it that there is more hot Cana/Bacchus fanart than there is fanfic? WE MUST CORRECT THIS. **

* * *

As the professor had predicted, the festival itself stayed pretty calm. Cana patrolled the cask ale tent and the yard next to it. There were probably a thousand people at the festival, but the majority of them were mundanes with no magic, or weak magic at best. No one tried to blow anyone up or set anything on fire. Mostly, people stood or sat around enjoying the beer.

And oh, the beer was _good. _ All of it was heavenly. She'd tried about thirty different drinks over the course of three hours (the tasting mugs they used only held four ounces, and they were usually filled half full) and she was really feeling it, but she'd only sampled a tenth of what they were offering. The best were the cask ales, which had all the normal hops and malts of beers with added crazy flavors from being aged in oak barrels that had been used for heavier drinks, like a honey ale aged with a barrel that had stored chili powder of all things. (That had been tasty as well as unique.) They were also all high gravity, so even though she'd only had around sixty total ounces of beer - half her normal limits - she was feeling as toasty as if she had had twice that much.

Her breathalyzer told her that she was teetering near the .2 mark, but that would peak out in about thirty minutes and then slowly drop off. She was certain the other MUI mages were probably in the same situation. Well, at least Bacchus would be.

Ah, but for them, being at this level of intoxication meant their magic was at its strongest. She wasn't entirely in control of her mental faculties, but her card magic would never miss its mark, and if she was charged up from Mavis she'd be able to blast a Fairy Glitter large enough to leave a crater.

The crowd of happy festival goers had departed the inn _en masse_ and headed toward Bristlecone's downtown area, just a few blocks away. Some of them would probably catch trains to go home, others would grab dinner and try to sober up a bit before returning to their spouses and children. She followed just such a few groups, enjoying the distant sensation of her own inebriation and the lovely view of the afternoon sunlight on this mountainous town.

It didn't take long, however, for some drunk idiots to start a commotion.

She heard a bang coming from down the street. She ran, grateful for her flat sandals (she never quite understood how Erza and Lucy ran in their boots), and found a pair of teenagers at the center of an intersection, surrounded by crowds of people. She gently eased her way to the front of the crowd.

"Oh yeah?" a young kid said, standing on his toes to yell into the face of a taller teenager. "You think you're so tough just because you can use a little magic!" He was drunk, but probably too young to be drinking, based on his height and appearance. Certainly far too young to be drunk in public.

Cana reached into her purse and grabbed her cards. _This_ was her mission.

The taller boy preened. "You're just a chicken who is afraid to take on a real mage. I bet you can't even throw a punch, you pansy."

The non-mage grimaced and started yelling profanities, but the older boy had started casting a spell on him, and the crowd gasped as the boy began floating in the air.

Cana recognized it as wind magic - very weak wind magic, but wind magic all the same. Tch, this little punk was nothing compared with the two wind mages who had battled it out at the Grand Magic Games - two little girls who had fought nearly to the death, earning them a rare tie for timing out. Cana had never been more proud of Wendy, for using her head and out-thinking an opponent who was far more powerful than herself.

This kid was just a rank amateur compared to the wind Dragon Slayer.

She broke through the crowd, pulling out the appropriate card from her deck. As she approached the fighting teenagers, she calmly slapped the mage on the back, secretly sticking a card there. "Paralyze," she said firmly.

He was suddenly afflicted with a powerful paralization, and he began to tremble uncontrollably. The wind spell on the other boy broke, and he landed on the ground with a thud.

"Yo, kid," Cana said, and held up her MUI badge. "Magic under the influence is not permitted in public without a license, and certainly not against non-mages. May I see your permit?"

The trembling teenager looked at her in horror. As Cana suspected, he was rather weak. While he was incapacitated, the other boy took the opportunity to run away, no doubt fearful of getting caught drinking under the legal age of 15.

She saw someone else breaking through the crowd, and was not surprised that it was Bacchus. If the young punk had been scared of Cana, he was probably close to wetting his pants when he saw Bacchus, who was menacing no matter what is state of sobriety.

"Nee-chan, what's going on here?" he said, sidling over. That man always seemed to slide or sidle. She'd never seen him _walk_ anywhere.

Cana looked Bacchus square in the eye - or as squarely as she could in her current condition. He was pretty wasted, but like her, he could hide it well when it was time for business. "This little shit decided to pick a fight with a non-mage. I've got him paralyzed for the moment." To the boy, she said, "I'm going to take the card off now. You'll need to show me your permit, or else I'll turn you in to the authorities."

She canceled the card magic, and the boy regained control of his muscles. Within a split second, he attempted to bolt, but Bacchus was faster. The older man simply lifted the boy off the ground by the scruff of his neck.

"Put me down!" the boy hollered, and desperately started casting another spell. "Wind Barri-"

With a sigh, Cana flicked a different card on him. "Sleep," was all she said, and the boy instantly fell limp in Bacchus' hand. Part of her strength of being a Level 4 MUI was not having to say a full spell name to get the magical effect she wanted. She was able to speed of the casting and charge the card to the point where all she needed was a single word to land the intended effect.

"Not bad, nee-chan," Bacchus said with a lascivious grin. "We could have just punched him, though."

"I'd rather not get arrested for assault, thank you," Cana said dryly.

"Hey guys," they heard a familiar male voice call, and turned around to see Dr. Allstone and Susan breaking through the crowds. "Susan called security. The police should be coming any minute."

"Excellent." Cana crossed her arms impatiently. "This punk'll be out for a few hours, though, so no rush."

Bacchus set the unconscious wannabe mage down on the ground with surprising gentleness. He then started to sidle away, but slammed into an invisible wall. Purple runes lit up in front of his face, and he blinked a few times, not comprehending.

"I didn't realize you had it under control, so I set a rune trap just in case," Dr. Allstone explained. "No drunk mages will be able to leave this area for a while!" He pointed his finger triumphantly at the sky.

Cana and Bacchus shared a drunken glance. "Including us and yourselves?" Cana asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Eh?" Dr. Allstone looked surprised. "I'm not drunk."

Susan shrugged. "Neither am I. My breathalyzer said I was only .04 last time I checked."

They clearly hadn't sampled as much as Cana and Bacchus had. What was the point of being a level 4 MUI mage if you weren't trashed at every opportunity?

Cana didn't believe this was happening. She also tried to walk toward the rapidly dispersing crowd, but sure enough she slammed straight into one of those oh so hated rune walls. "Dammit! Undo the magic, doc!" she yelled.

Dr. Allstone looked rather sheepish. "I'm not sure I can cancel it. I set it up rather hastily and I think I made a few typos along the way."

"You're shitting me." Bacchus also slammed his fist against the wall, but the rune wall was as iron solid as ever.

"You'll just have to wait it out." Bret stepped handily through the rune wall, and picked up the unconscious boy. He was able to take the young man through the wall; apparently the kid was a total lightweight. "The runes interpret drunk as above level 1 MUI limits, so just hang out until you're below .08 again."

"So what about us?" she grumbled. She saw security wandering in from a distance. "Are we just supposed to stand here for the next two hours?"

Susan took pity on them. "Here," she said, and started chanting under her breath. Cana watched in drunken fascination as the lacrima-make mage created a round device of some sort from her bare hands, in much the same way that Gray molded ice. "Hold onto this. It'll speed up your metabolism, so you'll process the alcohol faster."

She handed the little ball to Cana, and then made another one for Bacchus. Cana stared at the device, a bit dumbfounded. When she held it, she felt a bit warm, but it didn't feel like much else was happening.

Security arrived then, and Susan and the doctor left with the sleeping teenager. He'd wake up to a night in jail and a fine for illegal magic under the influence.

In the meantime, she was stuck with Bacchus, in a rune trap, for an unknown length of time. The trap extended to the corner of the street, where there was an empty bench. At least she wouldn't have to face the indignity of sitting on the edge of the curb for several hours.

She plopped down on the bench inter her normal sprawled out position, but when Bacchus's huge frame joined her, she shrank down to the very edge, closing her legs and generally looking a lot more ladylike than she was.

Mavis, he was _hot _when he was drunk. Well, her body seemed to think he was hot anytime, but the faint flush along his face and the easy limber of his muscles made her mouth go dry.

She decided to stick to small talk. "This sucks," she said, and he nodded in agreement.

"What a waste of a good buzz," he muttered, but he was grinning as he said it. Come to think of it, he hardly ever looked upset. He was, Cana realized, a happy drunk. She was glad, even if she'd been on the wrong end of that happiness once before.

She didn't say anything when he laid his arm across the back of the bench, but she was acutely aware of it. She squeezed the lacrima ball more tightly, willing herself to sober up faster.

She idly kicked the rune wall in front of her.

"I hate these things," she grumbled. "As I said before, Freed uses them and he just loves to set them up all over the guild. I hate feeling trapped."

"Oh, it's not so bad," he rumbled, and slouched down further, closing his eyes briefly. "Almost the perfect spot for taking a nap."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "I hardly took you for the napping type."

He laughed, a loud bellowing sound. Then he leaned forward, inches away from her face. She found herself shrinking away instinctively, even as she could see every facet of his features- the crinkly laugh lines forming around his eyes, the widow's peak from his slicked back hair, the little bobbling earrings that framed his high cheekbones. "You actually don't know that much about me, do you, nee-chan?" He laughed again, and picked up one of her curls from her shoulder. He sniffed it, in a surprisingly gentlemanly although intimate gesture, and Cana felt her face beginning to flush bright red from something besides the alcohol.

Cana, _blushing?_ The lush of Fairy Tail? The girl who'd tossed away her virginity at the tender age of... actually, she couldn't remember how old she had been, come to think of it... The breaker of a thousand hearts, _blushing_?

"I know enough to know I don't like you very much," she countered, and pulled her hair away from his nose. She was not in the mood to flirt.

"Heh! You're a piss-poor liar, too." But he sat back up, relieving her of the intense pressure of him being so close. "I think we got off to a bad start. Let's try again. Go out to dinner with me tonight."

It wasn't a request, it was a command. Cana blinked. Then her stomach growled noisily, betraying her.

She realized that her buzz was rapidly fading, and she had to pee rather badly. So this is what Susan's sobering-up lacrima could do. She had said it sped up the metabolism, but that also meant processing food and liquid faster as well.

"All right," Cana said, and triumphantly kicked her foot directly through the rune wall. She leaped up from the bench, and it was only after she did so that she realized she'd just agreed to go out on a date with the man who had humiliated her in front of all her friends not so long ago. "But you're paying," she added. "Including drinks." She flipped her hair over her shoulder, trying to regain her cool.

"Wild, lady! We're on per diem, silly girl" he replied, and also stood up. "Let's go back to the inn and get our meal tickets. But sure, any extra drinks are on me." He took off, tossing the lacrima sobering ball over his shoulder. Cana caught it without thinking, and then decided to keep both of the small objects. If Susan didn't want them back, she knew for a fact that Mirajane would probably pay a lot of money for something that could dry up a drunk mage in a mater of minutes.

Cana followed him, and then grinned at his back despite herself. Her libido had been suppressed due the large quantity of beer she'd consumed, but the raging desire was already beginning to come back to her.

Maybe a hot date with Bacchus was _exactly_ what she needed.


	6. Lists

**I'm still in JavaScript/HTML5 boot camp for the next week, which is why this chapter took a bit longer than I intended. Summer semester ends next Thursday, but I'll see what I can do over the weekend. Sometimes the bunnies won't be denied.**

**Thanks for all the reviews and follows! **

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Cana scurried after Bacchus. He sidled along faster than she had expected - she could barely keep up with his long legged stride.

Now that he'd extracted a promise of a date out of her, he seemed to be ignoring her. That was fine with her, honestly. She was still trying to reconcile her own turbulent thoughts about him.

He was an ass, but he was jovial in a way that few men she knew were - he was, she realized after a moment, like her father in that respect. Gildarts always had a big grin for the world, even if the world was being hostile. And when he got serious, that grin turned slightly sinister - or rarely, turned into a soft frown. But his smile would always come back.

Bacchus seemed to be the same sort.

Well, they say men always go for someone like their mothers. The same must apply to women and their fathers. And she _had_ always had "daddy" issues, as one of her ex-boyfriends had so artlessly put it.

Satisfied that her analysis explained her unreasonable attraction to the martial artist, she followed him the rest of the way to the inn, content to just admire his powerful back and firm butt.

Okay, she admitted, his sardonic grin was most definitely _not_ the only thing she found attractive.

When they reached the inn again, she excused herself to the lady's room before her bladder exploded. After she finished her business, she felt a lot better.

She washed her hands, pulled off the festival T-shirt she'd been wearing, then splashed her face with water and stared in the mirror above the sink. She knew she was a beauty - she lacked the angelic grace of Mirajane or the ferocious confidence of Erza, but her dark violet eyes and dusky skin from her mother's people gave her a fresh, exotic appearance. She was wearing one of her favorite tops, the white and black one that framed her breasts so nicely, and kept her arms covered but her belly exposed the way she liked it, and her hair was surprisingly intact despite the long afternoon. Nonetheless, she re-pinned it back, and then strolled out of the bathroom, feeling like a million bucks.

She found Bacchus, Susan, and Bret in the conference room, along with the professor. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the couple, who were snoodling together on the couch.

"We're all here now," the professor said. "Good job on catching the young man this evening. That's exactly why we wanted to have you around. Hopefully tomorrow will involve less incidents." He coughed. "The police were also grateful that there was no property damage." He tried not to look directly at Cana as he said this. "They were concerned about having a Fairy Tail mage around."

Cana raised one eyebrow, and said, deadpan, "I can totally blow the place up if they want a show that badly," she offered. Bacchus threw back his head and laughed.

"No no, that's quite all right," the professor said hurriedly. "Anyway, here are your hotel rooms and your per diem. We'll begin at the same time tomorrow." He handed them each an envelope that contained cash for dinner and a hotel key, and then shooed them out of the room so he could lock it up.

Cana remembered to offer the lacrima sobering-up balls back to Susan, but she waved them away. "I can always make more," she said, matter-of-factly.

The couple set off in one direction, but Cana and Bacchus lingered outside the inn for a bit, staring at a restaurant guide for the area that was posted on the wall of the inn. They stopped by their respective rooms - which were next to each other, o_f course,_ Cana thought - and dropped off the luggage that had been in the conference room all day. She packed lightly for trips like this, but even so, she'd rather not lug around a duffel bag on a date, and evidently the Drunk Falcon felt the same way.

"What are you in the mood for?" he asked her, once they had locked up and met back outside.

"I'm not sure," she admitted, but then her stomach growled. "At this point I think I'll eat anything that isn't still moving. How about we just start walking and stop at the first place that looks good?"

"All right," he agreed.

They walked side by side. They did _not_ hold hands. Cana would have swatted him away if he had tried. She was only doing this for her own morbid curiosity, she told herself.

When they reached the beginning of the downtown streets again, they started scanning for possible places to eat. Cana said no to the sushi restaurant, and Bacchus said no to the family-style restaurant.

They both paused to examine a micro-brewery. There were copper stills visible in the window, and a small chalkboard outside listed their custom brews on draft.

"Normally, I'd say no to more beer after pushing .20... but I feel cheated that I didn't get to ride that buzz for not even twenty minutes," Cana admitted.

"A woman after my own heart," Bacchus said, and slapped her lightly on the back, his fingers grazing her spine just below the hem of her shirt. She was surprised at her reaction to the slight contact - a faint burning. Not good. "Let's try it." He opened the door for her, leaving her no time to ponder the sizzling where his hands had touched.

The inside was dark, intimate, and surprisingly quiet. Cana supposed that all the beer festival folks who actually _had_ been totally beered out had skipped the place in favor of other drinks, or no drinks at all. The waitress at the podium looked almost grateful to see them, and she seated them in a back booth. There were no other patrons around them.

"So, after dinner, did you want to do anything in particular?" Cana asked, leaning back on the hard bench to pop her shoulders.

"There's a nice park on the university's campus," Bacchus said, also leaning back. They both looked rather relaxed, considering the circumstances. Hell, this was probably the most easy-going first date she'd ever been on. Probably because she had no intention of there ever being a second, she mused. There was no pretense, none of the little games she'd normally play with a guy to indicate she was interested. They were acting more like old friends.

"Tch, sounds boring," she said. "What about a movie? Any good flicks you wanna see?"

"I don't watch movies."

She filed that bit of knowledge away. "Okay, the park it is then, unless you have a better idea."

"Well, I was hoping there'd be a casino for you," he said, his eyes glittering dangerously. "I wanted to see the famous card mage of Fairy Tail in action."

She snorted. "They're tarot cards, not playing cards."

"Oh? You're a fortune teller, too?"

"It's not quite that. The cards only permit you to see a new perspective on what you already know... usually." She wasn't endowed with pure premonitions like Charle had, but sometimes she wondered if her cards could tap into that same vein of magic when the situation was important enough. It had happened a few times.

They were interrupted from further conversation when the waitress came. They each ordered a full sample of the beers on tap, and then Bacchus ordered enough food to feed an army. Cana preferred to get her calories from liquid nourishment, but even she was tempted by the hearty menu and snagged an order of bangers and mash.

As their drinks came, then the food came, they continued their conversation. Cana was surprised to find how well they... just talked. Even when they were growing drunker and drunker as they sampled the beer (over and over again – this town really did know its beer), she felt comfortable with him.

It was so different from their drinking contest. Then, they'd both been tossing back shots without speaking.

Once she felt her blood alcohol spiking up to her "probably want to stop now" levels, she shoved her last beer toward him. "All yours," she slurred. He just grinned at her, and chugged it down without even blinking.

"Ahhh!" he growled, smacking his lips in satisfaction.

She also sighed in contentment. She was totally blitzed for the second time that day (although the first one hardly counted) and it felt absolutely great.

"Ne," she said slowly, as she tended to do when she was hitting her ceiling, "Let's go to that park you talked about."

"All right," he agreed easily, and then dropped a wad of cash on the table for the bill. Cana blinked a few times - it was quite a bit more than their combined per diems had been. Well, Bacchus was the strongest mage of the Four Headed Puppy, so it made sense that he'd be relatively well off. And he had said he'd pay for dinner.

Hot, reminds me of Gildarts, and now rich too, her mind said, adding another set of merit points to Reasons She Was Unreasonably Attracted to Bacchus. The list was getting rather long. Not good.

They left, and this time they both sidled down the street the few blocks to the park. Since they were both professional drinkers, so to speak, they'd mastered the art of not stumbling while heavily intoxicated, and the result was a careful, ambling walk that gracefully lined up both feet while still keeping them upright. Her guild members believed that Cana never got drunk, no matter how much she drank, but that wasn't true. She was just a careful drunk, not a sloppy one.

The park wasn't grand nor particularly large, but enormous bristlecone pine trees, the namesake of the village, lined carefully tended walkways and hovered protectively over the administrative buildings of the university that lay at the heart of the town.

"They have no guild here," Cana explained, kicking a stick off the sidewalk idly. "So they gotta show off the school instead."

"Ha! And that's why they gotta import mages for the big jobs. Like us."

"Research, too," Cana nodded. They turned off one of the paths toward a fountain.

Mavis, what was she doing? She was taking a sunset stroll with the biggest asshole in all of Fiore, that's what she was doing. And she was _enjoying_ herself. She resisted the urge to let out a string of profanities.

Asshole he may be, but so far he had been nothing but a gentleman to her this evening.

They found a bench in front of the fountain, and both of them leaned back in silence, closing their eyes, their heads merrily spinning from the alcohol. The sensation of ethanol flowing through their veins was one they both appreciated, because it unlocked their magical potential to its fullest.

"Ne," she said softly.

"Mmm?"

But now that she had his attention, she wasn't sure what she wanted to say. She lazily opened her eyes, and looked at him. His face was tipped up toward the sky, and she caught her breath at his profile.

Unusually shy, she looked away again.

"Why did you ask me out?" she finally asked. "I was honestly hoping I wouldn't see you this weekend."

"You're the only person I've ever met that can drink as long as I can," he said simply.

That damn drinking contest again. And he'd _still _drunk her under the table.

She realized his arm was on the bench behind her, and forced herself to sit up a little straighter. No more tingly touching allowed.

"How old are you, Cana?"

That was the first time he'd called her simply by her name, not "sister," and no "chan" tacked on the end. It was a serious question. It deserved an honest answer.

"Well, on paper I'm twenty seven. In reality, I'm almost twenty." Tenrou Island had really screwed them over in a lot of ways. When she'd returned to the present to find that Macao was approaching fifty, she'd finally let go of her old crush on him. He really was old enough to be her father... hell, he was older than Gildarts now.

"I'm going to be thirty soon," Bacchus said, still leaning back with his eyes closed. "I'm beginning to feel my age."

Oh Mavis. Was the puppy dog suddenly getting the urge to put down roots and was looking for a wife or something dumb?

Her mouth uncensored due to the alcohol, she said as much.

"Hah!" he laughed, and his eyes flew open and he stared at her. "Could be. Could be."

"Well," she snorted delicately. "I'm hardly wife material. And even if I was in the market, which I'm _not_, you'd be pretty low on my list." That was a lie, as he was climbing higher by the minute, but she jabbed her finger at his chest to emphasize her point anyway. "I'm still pissed off at you. That was my favorite top you stole!"

"Oh?" he said, and suddenly leaned in close to her, grabbing her chin and forcing her to look deeply into his eyes. They were dark, liquid blackness. She glanced at his features, the tattoos that circled under his eyes (what did they represent, she wondered?), his powerful nose that was slightly crooked from a break long ago, that stupid puppy grin of his, his cheeks flushed slightly from having enough alcohol in his body to fell a lesser man. "You don't look that pissed. In fact," he said, his voice dropping lower, "you look luscious."

"Definitely low on the list," she muttered, even as she felt her mouth drifting closer to his.

"I'll just have to start rewriting your list," he said. And he was about to capture her lips... and Cana was just about to let him, against her better judgment, when she spied movement out of the corner of her eye.

She pulled back a little and looked in that direction.

"Sorry, Bacchus, but I think we may have to put this moment on pause," she said, her lip twitching in annoyance. "There are some punks over there trying to break into one of the buildings."

His eyebrows shot up in surprise, and he turned in that direction.

Sure enough, there was a duo of bodies scaling a wall, nearly invisible in the twilight. Cana wasn't even sure how she'd see them.

"We're off duty," he said, clearly disappointed but doing a good job of hiding it.

"Can you just sit by and watch a crime happen?" she asked, slightly cranky due to the circumstances. "If so, that's a big loss of points on my list."

"Of course not," he said, his grin getting wider, if that was at all possible. "So if I go stop a break-in, I'll get bonus points?"

"Maybe," she said, flipping her hair back. "No promises." She reached into her purse and grabbed her cards. "Let's go stop some perps."

As they quickly subdued the criminals - well, they were probably students actually, but anyone who was breaking into a building was a criminal on some level - Cana had to grow another level of respect for the leader of the Four Puppy pack. He had drunk enough beer today to make lesser mortals comatose, and yet he was smooth and graceful, almost like a dancer.

"Sleep," Cana whispered, casting her most useful non-combat spell. The invaders fell limp in Bacchus's arms. She didn't even really need to say the words - she was so attuned to her magic that she could cast most of her spells simply by holding the right card. She had always liked her fighting style; in a lot of ways she was the most versatile of the Fairy Tail mages, capable of combat melee, ranged attacks, and support roles as necessary.

"No Susan to go fetch the police for us this time, nee-san," he said, and grabbed her wrist. "Let's go find us a guard." He started dragging her along, still pumped up from the brief battle.

"I can walk on my own," she said angrily, but she was unable to free her arm from his iron grip. Even without using his palm magic, he was just that much stronger than her.

"I know." He did not let her go.

Bacchus pulled her halfway across the lawn before they found a glowing blue lacrima police call box.

A short time later, the police met them and took the sleeping invaders away. As usual, Cana's sleep magic wore off once they were disturbed, and the horrified cries and pleading to the police officers let Cana know that her first instinct - students - was probably right.

The sun was down now, and the magical mood of the park was ruined. She was grumpy, because she did have to grudgingly give Bacchus another check box on The List. He was a lecher, but he did have his own sense of honor, and there was a reason that a good man like Goldmine trusted him as one of the top mages of his guild.

"I'm fresh out of date ideas," Bacchus said, glancing off at the twilight where the sun had slipped below the horizon. "Unless you had something else in mind."

Cana affected a bored expression to hide the faint flare of disappointment. "I think we're done for the night as well. We could go drinking and dancing or something, but I'm not really the dancing type."

"Neither am I," he said. They started walking along the brick sidewalks toward the inn, quiet for now. The easy conversation of dinner had faded into what Cana could only consider a companionable silence.

She felt torn. She _liked _Bacchus. And yet she still was angry with him. But he was strong, and goddammit he was exactly her type, and it just pissed her off even more that she liked him despite being pissed at him!

She was so lost in her own confusing thoughts that she didn't even realize they were already back at the inn until they were at the stairs that led up to their rooms.

And she didn't realize he intended on resuming their interrupted tête-a-tête on the park bench until he pulled her close and kissed her.

Oh Mavis, he was a good kisser. Very experienced, definitely. He was just rough enough, just demanding enough, that she felt herself melting against him. His hands dropped down to her lower back, and she felt that tingle she'd noticed earlier today. She could still taste the faint traces of hops from all that beer.

She didn't even realize she was humming in pleasure until he broke the kiss.

"Stay with me, tonight," he said, his voice raspy.

And suddenly cold reality snapped her out of the pleasantly drunk fantasy she'd been experiencing.

She did not shove him. She pushed him away, however, firmly and insistently, until he was at arm's length.

"You know," she said, her voice cracking and betraying her, "normally I'm not against sex on the first date." She took a deep breath. "But I meant it when I said I was still pissed off at you."

His grin, that damn grin, widened. "So wild," he said. Then he laughed. "Remind me not to piss you off again, nee-chan. I'm not used to be turned down."

"You just about did piss me off again," she grumbled. "And with this, our date is over. If you want another one, you owe me a new top."

She was stunned, then, when he grabbed her hand and kissed it, in one fell gentlemanly swoop. "I'll remember that, wild lady," he said, and then gave her a mocking salute. "Good night for now, and I'll see you for our second date tomorrow."

With that, he scrambled up the steps, leaving her sputtering and astonished and miserably horny and alone.

"There will be no second date! You still have to return my top first!" she shouted after him. "Honestly," she muttered to herself once he'd ducked into his room.

Her buzz was still going strong, but she was no longer in the mood to stay awake and enjoy it. Time to crash.

After a cold shower and a few bored minutes spend glancing at the religious tome tucked away in the nightstand, she found herself lying on the bed, unable to sleep.

In her mind was the mental checklist, and she was very annoyed that Bacchus had somehow managed to shove his way from the bottom to the #1 slot all in one single bloody Saturday.


	7. Card Reading

**I was tickled to find there is a Windows system file called MUI. I don't know what it does, though.**

**I made the decision to keep this fic rated T, but I'm skirting the line up to M rated pretty closely - and probably poking it with a short stick. But the story I wanted to tell wasn't about sex, it was about alcohol. So I'll keep it skirting the line for now.**

**Thanks for all the reviews and favorites! Reviews are what encourages us to finish the story, even when the ending eludes us.**

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Bacchus wasn't at breakfast the next morning, and Cana was grateful. She wasn't quite ready to face him yet.

She was wearing her current second favorite top, another stretchy bikini that was super comfortable. It was a bit more worn than the one Bacchus had taken, and she knew she was going to have to retire it soon. She sighed - money spent on clothes was money she couldn't spend on alcohol or rent.

When she returned to her hotel room, she found a notice on her door that she had a package waiting for her at the front office. Curious, but also suspicious, she went there and handed the note to the clerk at the front desk.

"Ah, here you go dear," the sweet old lady said, and pulled out two beautifully wrapped boxes. "That nice young man from the room next to you said to give these two you." Her eyes twinkled from behind her spectacles. "I think he's sweet on you," she whispered conspiratorially, and Cana signed.

That was a rather polite way of putting it.

There was a note on the top package. Cana glanced at it. "Here you go. The date will begin at six," was all it said.

She took her two presents off to a couch in the lobby of the hotel, settled down, and opened the first one.

Inside was her top.

Well, not _her_ top, which had been worn from overuse, much like the one she wore now. This one was the same size and the same color and style, but it was far too crisp. He'd cut the tags, but she could tell it was brand new.

She sighed. At least he was trying.

The second package also had a note, one that said simply "Wear this tonight." Gingerly, she opened it up, and found a much nicer designer top than the bikini replacement.

Her mouth fell open as she pulled it out - it was red and asymmetrical, with two adorable straps that slung low over one shoulder, and a bell capped sleeve on the other side. It covered a bit more bosom than her normal outfits, but still exposed her belly and her guild mark, and left her arms and shoulders comfortably bare the way she liked them. This one also had the tag snipped, although she saw a gift receipt lurking in the bottom. But she knew instinctively that it would fit snugly and perfectly.

Well, damn. He was going to woo her with goodies, wasn't he? No man had ever tried _that_ before - not that they'd have to do much wooing at all to get her in bed, as a general rule - and it struck some chord deep inside Cana. She'd been poor as a child, with her mother raising her without any aid from Gildarts, and like most of the orphans that Fairy Tail took in, she'd been fed adequately and dressed, but never with anything particularly expensive or nice. Her first few jobs as a mage had gone to pay for her own clothes so she could stop wearing Porlyusca's hand-me-downs.

She put it back in the box and stood up, gathering everything back in her arms. "Thanks," she said to the clerk, and took her newly acquired goods back to her hotel room. Hesitantly, she slipped out of her bikini top and put on the new red one from Bacchus. She stared in the mirror. It fit her perfectly, the color suited her well, and the little loopy strings hanging off one shoulder were dead sexy.

"Who know the bastard would have such good taste?" she muttered, and changed out of her normal brown capris to a black pencil skirt she hardly ever wore, but kept with her for special occasions. Mini skirts were more of a Lucy or Erza thing, but the brown clashed a bit with the brilliant crimson, so the capris had to go.

Feeling silly, she added in a pair of silver earrings she also rarely wore, and adjusted her hair a bit.

"Argh, why am I doing this?" she said suddenly, realizing she was _primping_ for a date that wasn't even going to occur for seven hours. With a grumble, she took off the outfit and returned to her normal capris and bikini top, then pulled her staff T-shirt over it.

This second date had better damn well be awesome, she thought as she stomped out of the hotel door.

* * *

The second day of the festival was just as peaceful as the first. As before, Cana found herself hanging around the cask ale pavilion, and when the last pours were announced, she picked up one of the barrels and downed the contents in one go, to the rousing cheers and whoops of the crowd around her. She finished off the barrel with a satisfied smack, earning her a round of applause.

She wiped her mouth with a smirk. There had been more beer in there than she had anticipated, so she'd be knocking dangerously close to her maximum tolerance, but that would all wear off within a few hours.

The festival was over; once again all the merrily drunken patrons made their way downtown to sober up. Cana made a point of finding a bathroom _before_ she joined them this time.

Although Bacchus had said their date would begin at six, she bumped into him settling into one of the outdoor seating areas that lined the public squares, no doubt to watch for trouble as they had the day before. The wide bench was beneath a shady tree, and the sunlight dappled his features.

"This seat taken?" she asked, raising one eyebrow and giving him another one of her signature smirks.

His face lit up when he saw her; that was the only way to describe it. She'd only seen that expression a few times in her life, and only once before had it been directed to her - when Gildarts had learned he was her father. It made her a bit uncomfortable. She wasn't _that_ special.

"Of course, nee-chan," he said, and patted the seat beside him. He was even more drunk than she was, but as always, he held it well, and only her finely nuanced senses regarding alcohol clued her in.

She sat a respectable distance away, and crossed her legs and gripped her knee. She felt shy and awkward, which just wasn't her style when it came to men.

"I think this was the easiest million jewels I've ever made," Bacchus said, leaning back with his head resting on his hands. "The university sure loves to throw around money."

"After the magic council was dissolved during the... Jellal incident," Cana said, unsure of how to accurately describe that period of disruption in the magical world, "many of the magic research divisions were shuttered, and they outsourced most of the research to the university instead. It seems the department is really thriving now." She touched her purse, thinking of the lacrima sobering ball that Susan had made without even thinking about it. "I'm kind of glad to know that the non-battle mages have a home now, too."

"Ah, but it's so much more fun to fight," Bacchus said, tilting his head toward her. "I think I'd be bored if I couldn't beat things up all the time."

Or get beaten up, Cana thought, but kept that thought to herself. Quattro Cerberus's losses in the Grand Magic Games had rankled their guild tremendously.

Instead, she said, "Of course you'd want to fight, considering your magic is Palm Magic."

"Hah!" He waggled his fingers toward her, his grin growing wider again. "Battle is not the only place my hands are magical."

Cana felt herself blush. Mavis, he wasn't subtle _at all._

Her stomach gurgled a bit, still protesting that final influx of beer. She _would_ have picked the high gravity barrel, she thought with some annoyance. Her senses were dulled, and she felt her bones and muscles becoming more languid, but her magic pulsed even more strongly within her.

She changed the subject. "You said you wanted to see my card magic in action yesterday. How about I do a quick tarot card reading for you?"

"Ooh," he said, his eyes alighting with interest from within his toasty state. "Show me what ya got, nee-chan."

"Please stop calling me nee-chan. I'm not your sister," she muttered darkly. She was having anything but sisterly thoughts about the large man beside her.

"How about Wild Thing, then?"

"Fine," she said, and blew out an exasperated sigh. "Wild Thing is fine. Now, I need some space." She scooted a bit away from him on the bench, and pulled out her oldest deck of cards. Most of her battle cards were from new decks, especially her custom spell cards that she had to draw out herself or commission from Reedus, but her soft, well loved main deck was never thrown in battle. This was the deck she had learned the cards with - the one that belonged to her mother, the one that had given her her name - Arcana. _The secret._

"We'll do a basic six card reading for you," she said, and shuffled the cards carefully. She laid six cards out in two rows. "This top row reflects your present state - your feelings, your desires, and your fears." She pointed to each card in turn. "The bottom row is what is coming up - what is going for you, what is going against you, and the possible outcomes of your current situation."

He was watching her, absolutely fascinated. "This is magic?"

"Anyone can do this," Cana said, touching the worn cards lovingly. "Although Levy always accused me of being able to cheat at cards and games using magic. If this does tap into magic, it is a deeper one than I myself control." She struggled to explain it to him through the rosy glow of her intoxication. "If anything, the magic is in the interpretation... the meaning. Each card's meaning changes depending on its position in relation to the others."

With that, she flipped over the first card. It was Strength. "This is how you feel about yourself now. You are strong and confident that you will overcome any problems you're experiencing." She did not tell him, but the card generally had negative connotations - maybe he was still more sore over the games than he wanted to admit.

"Heh! I could have told you that much."

She ignored him, and flipped over the next card. The Sun. One of the three cards she would need to completely master if she wanted to cast Fairy Glitter without Mavis's help. "This card suggests that what you want most at the moment is pleasure in life and joy and celebration." A very positive card, and one that often had overtones of fertility when involved in family situations. In Bacchus's case, it probably just meant he wanted to get laid.

With her, of course, she thought wryly.

"This next card is your current fears." It was the Chariot. She actually laughed when she saw it. "Never mind, you're not really afraid of anything, except that things might be more of a struggle than you expected. But you'll persevere and overcome." Another positive card. His current state of fortune was actually quite good.

She went to the next row. "This is your Personal Court Card - what things in your life are in your favor." She flipped it, and it was The Fool, a good card to have in that position. "You're in for an exciting time, it seems. A time of new possibilities, and good luck."

"I like this magic of yours, Wild Thing," he said, beaming happily down at his card layout.

"What is going against you is..." She flipped the next card, and blinked at the sudden switch of the mood, "The World, but in reverse..." She had to think about that for a few moments. Normally, The World was used to signify the expansion of the self, the urge to travel, and to spread oneself out. But reversed, it meant a contraction of the self - and in this position, discord within the sphere of the hearth and home. A rift in the family, a feud, a disinheritance.

"What's wrong, Wild Thing?"

"You've got something or someone holding you back in your family, don't you?" she said softly.

Bacchus's grin didn't fade, but a light in his eyes flickered out. "You could say that," he said through now slightly gritted teeth.

For such a positive man to have such a thing as his own family going against him... She wondered what it could be, but her blood alcohol was cruising near the .30 mark and she was pretty much unable to think at this point.

She held her breath, and touched the final card, the outcome. Please don't be the Lovers, please don't be the Lovers... That would be the ultimate indignity.

It was The Tower. _Not_ reversed, thankfully. She let out her breath.

"Well, the good news is that some great change will come, and it brings the opportunity of new beginnings and new possibilities." The Tower was not necessarily a positive card to have as a final outcome, but when it was reversed as an outcome it almost always meant a great tragedy was going to befall the petitioner. Upright, it meant that although there would be some upheaval in life, the petitioner would overcome the issues and emerge stronger from them. It tied in well with his initial card of strength - whatever life threw at him, he'd make it through.

She looked down at the six card spread. All in all, it portended good things for him, but hinted at some deep family secret that wasn't visible on the surface. She suddenly wondered where his family had come from - his features and his magic were not from Fiore, but mages from all over the world came to this country because it had the most powerful guilds on the planet. Her mother's family had emigrated from a few countries over not even three generations ago.

"So, what's next Wild Thing?" he asked, breaking her reverie. She'd have to ask him about his family, sometime, if the right time ever came.

She gathered up her cards. "We should probably patrol a bit more, just in case some more punks decide to cause trouble."

As they left the square, she glanced at Bacchus, who was sidling along merrily without a care in the world, which seemed to be his default state when drunk. His card reading had left her with more questions about him than it had answered.

Her cards were never wrong.

* * *

By the time six o'clock rolled around, Cana had sobered up a great deal, The afternoon had passed without incident this time, and as the MUI team gathered in the small office at the inn for their final meeting, she had to privately agree with Bacchus that it was the easiest million jewels she'd ever raked in.

"Goodbye," she said to Susan and Bret, who were looking a bit more intoxicated than they had the day before. Cana had a feeling she hadn't been the only one to help the guest breweries polish off their leftover goods.

"Goodbye Cana! Please stop by some time and help me test out the new version of the MPF!" Susan waved heartily. Bret nodded and smiled, too deeply drunk to even speak.

The older professor clasped her hand warmly. "And thank you, Miss Alberone. You have been a great assistance to us this weekend. I'll be sure to personally invite you and Mister Du to our event next year."

Du? Cana filed away Bacchus's last name in her memory. It was the first time she'd ever heard it. She'd have to ask Levy about its origins. For her own personal curiosity, of course. _Not_ because she was interested in him.

Their goodbyes said, they left the office together, clutching their paychecks and per diems for the rest of the day.

Now, it was time.

Cana excused herself to run to her hotel room and freshen up a bit. She wondered what he had planned.

The designer top he'd given her was just as stunning as it had been that morning, and as she brushed her hair, she had to wonder what had possessed him to pursue her so doggedly. It wasn't as if he couldn't have his pick of women. Maybe he enjoyed a challenge. Maybe, as he'd said, he preferred a girl with enough stamina to drink with him throughout the night. Whatever the reason, he actually seemed to _like_ her, and she wasn't quite sure how to react to that.

She changed into the outfit she'd assembled earlier that day, and paused to admire herself in the mirror. She was smoking hot, if she did think so herself.

A pair of kitten heeled sandals rounded out the look, and she stepped outside to find him waiting for her, also spruced up.

Gone was the harness and battle sleeves. In its place was a sleeveless white tunic with a crisp high collar. Rather than hot, he looked cool and collected.

"Wild thing, you make my heart sing," he half sang when he saw her, and she swatted at him.

"I revoke the nickname privileges if you're going to sing that to me every time you see me," she warned. She gave him a deliberate once over. "Although I have to say, you clean up nicely too. Much better than I was expecting."

"Hah! Let's go, we have reservations to make." He proffered his elbow, and she took it reluctantly. It wasn't as bad as holding hands, but it still felt out of character for her.

Cana, the sex kitten, was not used to be _courted._

"Thank you for the presents," she forced herself to say, grudgingly. "It's not what I was asking for, but I suppose it will have to do."

"The one I took from you is a precious keepsake and I will never let it go," he said with a big grin, holding his hand over his heart.

She rolled her eyes.

He led them to the river just east of the downtown area, where she was surprised to find a lacrima powered riverboat waiting. The canopied deck was large but mostly empty, only set with a candlelit dinner table for two.

"You said it yourself, we are not the dinner and dancing type," he said, and she allowed herself to be seated at the table by a liveried waiter. "So I had to find something else."

"So a private riverboat dinner cruise," she murmured, admiring the view of the wide river and the tangled trees along the riverbanks. The river in Magnolia was tamed, channeled into two rock lined canals to form a perfect square within the town. This, on the other hand, was a wild river - aside from the docks where they were, there seemed to be no signs of human interference along the winding path it followed.

"Would you like to see the wine list?" the waiter asked Bacchus, and he motioned with his hand in agreement.

The thought of more alcohol actually made Cana queasy, a rare occasion, but she chalked that up to overindulging at the festival. Surely a few more glasses wouldn't hurt, since it had been over three hours since her final barrel chug fest.

Dinner went easily. Once again, she noticed how well they conversed - floating from one topic to another without any lengthy pauses or bruised feelings. It was funny; she'd never really talked with a man like this before. The girls, sure, and the members of the guild like Macao, but all of her dates had been so focused on seduction and the "after" part that she'd never gone past superficial conversation and compliments. Here, where she'd already made it clear she wasn't interested in a physical relationship, she was able to let her guard down and show her true personality - her brash wit, her caustic tongue so quick to criticize, her sense of internal pride that shone through with every gesture and word. And Bacchus took it all in stride, laughing at her jokes, brushing aside her insults, and absorbing her pride as if it was genuine charm.

In fact, she was so caught up in the conversation that she didn't even notice that they'd polished off almost three bottles of wine over the course of dinner, until the waiter brought out dessert and a special port wine to match.

"I don't think I can eat another bite," she said, clutching her flat stomach. She'd left half the food on her plate, that damn pride preventing her from asking for a doggy bag to have it for lunch tomorrow like she normally did with big dinners.

"C'mon, just one taste," he said, piercing the crusty top of the creme bruleé with his fork and scooping out some of the tender custard from the inside. He dangled the fork in front of her mouth, and she winced as she allowed herself to be fed by him.

"Is it not good?"

"It's good," she admitted, letting the slippery custard melt in her mouth before swallowing. "I'm just not used to this sort of thing."

"You must now try the port," the waiter insisted. "In fact, why not have a toast?"

She glanced at him, and then at Bacchus, who also looked a bit surprised at the suggestion. "A toast to what?"

"Why, your lovely relationship, of course," the waiter smarmed.

Cana coughed into her hand, but Bacchus grinned and lifted up his glass. "Of course! To our wonderful relationship, Wild Thing."

She lifted her glass as well, resigned. "Our wonderfully nonexistent relationship, you mean," she said, clinking her glass against his.

"Touché," he said, but did not sip, simply watching Cana as she downed the expensive port in one gulp.

Immediately she regretted her action. Her stomach recoiled at the influx of the sickly sweet liquid, and she felt herself growing dizzy. Wait, she _never_ grew dizzy from alcohol... this wasn't...

"Don't drink it," she warned him immediately, recognizing a potent paralysis spell, similar to the one she used in her cards. She slumped forward in her chair, still barely conscious but completely unable to move.

For one terrible moment she believed that Bacchus had colluded with the waiter and slipped her a roofie. He wanted her so desperately that he would do a despicable act, one far beyond snatching her top and leaving her bare chested among her guild members. Such a thing would have been unforgiveable, and Gildarts would have likely murdered the martial artist if she had told him about it...

But any fears she had were laid to rest when Bacchus went as equally batshit as Gildarts would, single handedly knocking out the waiter, the entire boat crew, and the bandits who were sitting underneath the deck of the rented boat, waiting for rich targets to get drunk and complacent and turn into easy marks once they were knocked out at dessert. Little did they know that there was an S-class mage (and also a second practically S-class mage) on board instead of rich mundanes with more money than magic. And Bacchus surely did enough property damage to the boat itself to make a Fairy Tail mage proud.

Cana struggled to stay conscious throughout the short melee, but she was completely blacked out by the time Bacchus steered the boat to the nearest shore, and carried her back to the hotel.

* * *

She woke up the next morning, in her own bed in her own hotel room. She was on top of the covers, still wearing the nice outfit from the date before. Bacchus hadn't even undressed her.

Modesty preserved, she felt a rush of gratitude towards the martial artist. If he hadn't been so enamored with watching her down yet another glass of wine, they'd both have been robbed and left for dead on that boat.

She sat up in the bed, gingerly, touching her head. She didn't really have a hangover, but as usual her bladder was screaming at her and she felt a bit gross, having slept in her clothes. She fled to the bathroom and took care of her basic needs - toilet and hygiene - before she thought about doing anything else.

Now clean, and once again dressed in normal Cana clothes, she felt she ought to go talk to Bacchus, and at least thank him for heeding her warning and for bringing her back her. He was a consummate lecher, but he really did have his own sense of personal integrity that he adhered to, and she appreciated that fact more than ever.

She left her room, took a deep breath, and rapped lightly on his door, wondering what in the world she was going to say to him.

After a few moments, he answered the door, dripping wet and wearing nothing but a towel. His hair was down from its normal severe up-do, and gently brushed his shoulders in ropy waves. He'd clearly been in the shower.

She stared at him, at that splendid body, sleek with water running down his muscles in rivulets. Her mouth went dry.

"Wild Thing," he said, his face lighting up again and splitting into his grin. "Good morning. I'm glad to see you're okay."

Something snapped inside Cana for the second time, only this time it snapped in the opposite direction.

Without even thinking any more, she reached up and grabbed his jaw, pulling him close for a searing kiss. His body stiffened in surprise for a moment, before relaxing again as he embraced her tightly. She pushed him inside his hotel room, making a point to shut the door firmly behind her.

He did _not_, she noted with a small bit of satisfaction, resist her one bit.

Maybe she really did just need to get him out of her system after all.

* * *

**Hold on folks, we're not done yet! But I'll leave the rest of this chapter to your imagination. ^_~**


	8. Cowardice

Cana was slumped over the bar at Fairy Tail, pretty thoroughly trashed, as she had been for the past few days.

At first, the rest of the guild had assumed she was just in one of her periodic slumps; the ones that had always cropped up around the S class exams were usually the worst. But this particular funk of hers had shown no signs of abating. She came in to the guild early, consumed large quantities of alcohol, and just sat at the bar, one cheek down on the wood, both cheeks faintly flushed. And she stayed silent. Whenever anyone asked if she wanted to talk about it, she shook her head and ordered another drink instead.

Mirajane was starting to show signs of serious concern, and on Saturday morning, she put her hands firmly on her hips and gave the card mage a stern, maternal look. "Cana Albarona!" she said loudly. But then she leaned in closely, and whispered, "Are you pregnant?"

The look that Cana gave her, sloe-eyed and full of daggers, was one that Mirajane was not soon to forget.

* * *

"Erza Scarlet."

... "You!"

"I have a favor to call in."

"Oh? I'm surprised you remembered I owed you one after seven years passed."

"And I'm not surprised you didn't forget, wild lady."

"Tell me your request, and I'll consider my reply."

"Well..."

* * *

The only person who succeeded in stirring Cana from her stupor was Levy, who had been happy to do research for Cana when asked.

The blue haired girl had a large book in front of her, and was pointing to several countries in the far eastern continent, thousands of miles from Fiore. Gajeel stood silently behind her, just in case Cana went insane from alcohol depression or something crazy like that.

"So you see, the last name Du is pretty common in many countries. Here in Fiore, we spell it as 'Dew' but if you're certain it's eastern in origin, it'll have to be 'Du', like you said." She picked out one particularly large country. "In the Quon Empire, its the name of one of the noble clans, although many commoners in villages under their rule have it as well."

"I see," Cana mumbled. "Thanks, Levy."

"Any time, Cana-chan!" Levy chirped, and shut the book. "Let me know if you need any more information."

"I'm good for now. Thanks again."

Levy and Gajeel left, but not before the script mage threw a worried look over her shoulder at the moping Cana, who had slumped back over the bar, nursing pitifully at her drink.

* * *

"I'll agree to it, but under one condition."

"What's that?"

"If you break her heart, I will break your face."

"Hah! You wound me, Titania. If anything, I'm the one likely to end up brokenhearted at this rate."

"If your words are true, then yes, she has committed a regrettable action towards you. But my words are also no mere idle threat."

"By the blood of my forefathers, I will never harm a hair on her head."

"Hmph. I suppose that will have to do."

* * *

Cana Albarona was a goddamn coward.

She'd ended up spending an extra day - and an extra night - with the martial artist after the festival. He sure wasn't kidding when he said he had "magic hands." She'd been thoroughly ravished for almost twenty four hours, much to her body's delight, and had probably had more fun during the whole beer festival weekend than she'd had in the entire year prior.

But she was a coward.

Cana had crept away in the morning, unable to even say goodbye. She'd left him sleeping blissfully, totally unaware that she'd bailed on him.

She had been so certain that "getting him out of her system" would work, that a one night (and lots of daylight too) stand would be enough to satisfy her cravings.

Mavis, had she ever been wrong.

Every time she closed her eyes, she saw him, that crazy grin, those splendid muscles, those strange tattoos under his eyes, that funny bobble on top of his head, the way he'd looked that morning, fresh out of the shower...

Even the alcohol reminded her of him, which was even more depressing. So she drank to forget him, but the drinking served to remind her of him more, and she drank to forget the reminders of drinking.

She knew the rest of the guild was worried about her, and she wasn't helping matters.

But if she thought about it too much, she'd cry.

Worst of all, Gildarts wasn't even around. The one time she really just wanted to cry on her father's shoulder and be treated like a little baby girl, and he wasn't even here. She wasn't going to let him live it down when he came back.

She lifted her head and was about to order another drink when she heard a murmuring commotion coming from the front of the Fairy Tail tavern.

All at once, the door flew open, to reveal Erza standing there like a colossus, the sun blazing around her fierce face and a faint wind blowing around her for extra dramatic effect.

"Cana," Erza said curtly. "You have a visitor."

Her sixth sense prickled, and she sat fully upright on the bar stool.

Right behind Erza was a much larger figure, one whose outline she had memorized intimately.

_He had come for her._

Her heart began to thud in her chest, in excitement and fear and a great many emotions all at once. The guild members of Fairy Tail parted like a sea before him as he sidled his way across the guild floor to the bar, where he stood before Cana with his arms crossed, looking down on her with a giant puppy grin.

"Bacchus," she whispered.

"I've missed ya, Wild Thing," he said, and without further comment he reached down, plucked her off the bar stool, and tossed her over his shoulder. The uproar in the guild was immediate.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Put her down!"

"You can't do tha-"

"SILENCE!" Erza's voice echoed around the hall, and everyone instinctively obeyed.

Cana, for her part, was struggling silently like an unruly cat, even as Bacchus carried her across the guild to the door. She watched helplessly as Erza held back the rest of the guild, and finally gave in, resigned to being carried like a drunk sack of potatoes. They left the guild quickly, as his ambling stride was deceptively fast.

"So where are we going?" she said in a soft voice that was cracked from disuse.

"Your apartment at Fairy Hills."

"You can't go there," she said flatly. "No men are allowed."

"I have special permission from Erza Scarlet," he said, and she could hear his grin widen as he said those words. "She owed me a favor from long ago."

Cana vowed revenge on her guild mate. She could feel the black cloud of anger floating over her head, and she didn't care. Erza... ooooh!

"Can you at least put me down?" she said once they had reached the walkway that led up the hill to the dorms.

"Nope," he answered easily. "You'll run away again."

She had a wonderful view of his tight backside, and she had to question whether she'd willingly leave such a perfect specimen of male of her own free will, even if he had just kidnapped her.

"I promise I won't run away," she said, and beat lightly on his back. "Put me down!"

He stopped this time, and then slid her down his body, ensuring they shared maximum contact on purpose, and she found herself back on the ground firmly in his embrace.

She couldn't bear to look him in the eyes, but he tilted her chin up anyway, so that she was forced to.

And he certainly saw the emotion stamped all over her face: Guilt.

"All you had to do was say goodbye," he said quietly.

"I know."

He sighed. "And yet, I'm not sure I would have let you go. You've gotten under my skin, Cana Albarona." There was her name, with no adornments or pseudonyms. "I haven't been able to stop thinking about you once. I can't even consider looking at other women right now... and that's a first for me."

What could she say to that? She looked away again, but then squared her shoulders and took a fortifying breath. Time to stop moping, since he was here and really not that mad, it seemed.

"Come on," she said finally. "Let's stop giving the neighbors something to gossip about and get indoors."

She led him to her dorm room, feeling such a conflicting rush of emotions she wasn't even able to think straight at all.

Once they were inside, she shut the door, remembering that same gesture with such a different mood less than a week ago.

"All right, Wild Thing," the warrior said, leaning casually against her wall. "We need to talk."

Cana rolled her eyes, but stood in front of him, her arms also crossed defensively. "I thought men never wanted to talk about relationships."

"We have a relationship?" he teased.

"A non-existent one!"

"Or perhaps," and here he waggled his eyebrows suggestively, "you'd like to play in bed a bit first, and then talk on the pillows?"

A small lightning bolt escaped from the angry cloud above Cana's head, and in a sudden motion she tried to throw a solid right hook at his handsome face.

He caught it easily, as she knew he would. She did not resist further. He used the motion to draw her back into an embrace, and then leaned down close to her ear, his breath tickling her neck.

"My feisty, feisty Cana," he murmured, and stroked her hair.

"I'm not yours," she protested, even as those hands began to work their amazing magic, causing heat to blaze across her back and her waist where he touched her lightly.

"Not yet."

* * *

Some time later, Cana found herself sitting up in bed, her hands around her knees, looking out of her window while Bacchus dozed. Running away wasn't an option this time - where could she possibly go? She felt betrayed - by Erza, by the man dozing next to her, but mostly by her own body.

It just felt so _right_ with him, she thought despondently. He'd _ruined_ her for other men. Nothing and no one had ever been like him. She groaned, turning her face into her knees between her arms. What on Earthland was she going to do with an overly attached S-class puppy dog?

The soft noise woke him up, and a few moments later he was also sitting up, his elbows resting loosely on his knees.

"I wasn't just here for sex, though," he said, rumpling her hair in a friendly manner. "I actually wanted to take you out again."

She turned to face him, her eyes large behind the waterfall of hair that spilled across her legs.

"Why me?" she asked simply.

"I told you. You're the best drinker I've ever met. Besides myself, that is."

"I'm serious."

The jovial grin faded into a more thoughtful expression.

"You're strong," he began, and then started ticking off on his fingers. "You're tall. You're smart. You're pretty. You're nice."

At that one she gave him a particular look, a look that said, now you're just making stuff up. Cana was not a nice girl. Cana was the very antithesis of a "nice" girl.

"When I first saw your guild at the bar in Crocus," he said, hesitating a little, "I was really looking to pick a fight with Erza. But I'd heard there was a good drinker among the returned Fairy Tail members, and I do have a reputation to uphold." He chuckled, and then leaned in closer to give her a gentle kiss. "Didn't realize it was going to be a wild and crazy lady who could launch a magic attack more powerful than Jura."

"How did you meet Erza?"

"Joint S-class mission between guilds, a long time ago. Well, for me anyway." He looked away then, probably remembering. "It takes a lot to impress me, especially these days. But the Titania... she's something else."

Cana couldn't help but smile at the obvious admiration for the strongest woman in their guild.

"You're something else too," he added.

She sighed. "But there are lots of strong women. There's only one Titania, but there's got to be a dozen Canas out there."

"No, there's only one Cana. My Wild Thing."

Silently, she slipped out of the bed and started to gather pieces of clothing off the floor where they had been tossed heedlessly. "So where did you want to go?"

Sensing victory, he joined her in cleaning up her room. "My favorite vineyard. There's just something about wine from a vineyard, that's fresh from the barrel and served in the place it's grown. It has a better taste, probably from being closer to its spiritual home."

It occurred to Cana about this point that Bacchus was quite sober at the moment, as he had been that morning after the festival as well. He was fairly eloquent when he wasn't trashed. Her own depression-induced alcoholism had also faded finally, leaving her feeling a bit tired and very hungry. She probably needed to drink a lot of water and eat some real food. She also needed a shower, especially now that she was all sticky again.

"Do they serve dinner there?"

* * *

A short train ride later, she found herself in the outskirts of Dogwood, the small town that was the home of Quattro Cerberus, and whose four-lobed flower lent the guild its rough sounding name. She hadn't realized just how close it was to Magnolia; really just two train stops away.

The winery was a large estate, one that reminded Cana a bit of the descriptions Lucy had given of her childhood home. Rows of vineyards flowed around the gently rolling hillsides surrounding it, and a long driveway led up to the tallest hill where a manor house was perched. It was only a mile or so from the train station, but the hill tired her out more quickly than she expected - she really HAD let herself go this past week - and she was grateful when the reached the top.

The maitre'd, who looked to be of a snooty sort but who was clearly familiar with Bacchus, greeted them with a solemn nod once they were inside the mansion. "Two?" was all he said.

"Yes, on the veranda," Bacchus confirmed. "And send Tony please, my beautiful date will appreciate him." Bacchus smiled down at her, while Cana pursed her lips.

"Who's Tony?"

"The head sommelier. He's a mage with an incredibly refined palette. Gastro magic, I suppose you could call it."

Now she was intrigued.

The host seated them on a porch overlooking the vineyard, one she quickly realized was private and probably reserved for privileged guests. The view was fantastic, with the last rays of the setting sun filtering over the sleeping grapes.

"Tony will be out shortly, and Margaret will be serving you this evening." The host left through the doors, and was swiftly replaced by the perky young waitress, who brought them water and took their order for appetizers. Cana slurped her water gratefully.

After that, the sommelier arrived and Cana had to smile in amusement as he and Bacchus went through a sort of male greeting ritual, complete with a secret handshake and slaps upside the head. This Tony fellow had dark sunglasses on, a different (and distinctively mage-like) uniform, and an interesting hairstyle, in which a crown of grape leaves had been shaved onto his head. Clearly, these two knew each other well.

"Tony, this is my... companion, Cana Alabarona."

He'd been about to say something else. Girlfriend? Lover? Well, the latter was true, at least. "Friend" was probably pushing the line. Her guild mates at Fairy Tail were friends. Bacchus was... something different.

"Pleased to meet you," she said, remembering her manners.

"The pleasure is all mine, my lady," Tony said, immediately dropping into a more formal tone and bowing slightly. He reminded her a bit of the boys of Blue Pegasus. "Our wine special tonight is our cabernet and pinot noir blend. It pairs perfectly with most of the grilled items on our menu. For fish or pasta dishes, I'd recommend our savignon blanc, and for dessert, we have a special case of ten year sherry we've just made available this week. If you have any questions regarding the wine menu, please don't hesitate to ask."

"I think I'll take a flight of your favorite with each course," Bacchus said, but gave her the wine menu to look at. "Cana, do you have wine preferences?"

She shook her head. "If it's fermented, I'll drink it," she said honestly, her lips twitching up into a smirk.

Tony gave her a small smile, but she had a feeling his eyes were glittering behind his sunglasses. "I can see why you are friends with Bacchus. A paired flight for you as well, then?"

"Yes, please," she agreed.

It was, Cana had to admit, the finest dinner she'd ever eaten. She had freaked out a bit upon seeing the menu - you could always tell a high end restaurant because they didn't bother to end the jewel prices with 999 to make them look cheaper than they were - but Bacchus had assured her that the food was worth it, and since he was paying, she had no choice but to let herself be wined and dined at an exorbitant cost. Well, they had just walked off with a cool million jewels each last weekend. Cana had dropped half of it for five month's rent (nice not to have to worry about that for a while) and tucked the rest aside for living expenses, in a lucid moment before her depression hit her fully. Not that she'd felt much like spending it.

As she nibbled on a piece of flaky salmon and enjoyed the wonderful notes of the wine, she watched him tear into a total feast for himself. He was a bear of a man, and not only needed fuel for his magic, but for his enormous muscular frame as well. And he was right; the wine was amazing when it was fresh from the vineyard. These were also good high end wines, with flavors that slipped and evolved over the tongue, turning each light sip into a twenty second experience. Fairy Tail didn't bother stocking stuff like this, at least not in Cana sized barrels.

"Like it?" he grinned as he watched the play of joy on her face when she tried her third wine for the evening. Having a different wine with each dinner course was decadent, but also surprisingly wonderful, as Tony had selected each glass depending on what they ordered, and he brought a mage's touch to his craft.

"How could I not?"

"I always wanted to retire on a vineyard, someday," he said, twirling his glass in his hands. "Also maybe grow rice for sake."

"I love sake most of all," Cana said. Bacchus looked shocked when she said that, and she found herself matching his grin. "But it's so expensive to get the good stuff. A barrel of wine or beer is almost always cheaper, and Mirajane never let me have more than a small glass of good sake at a time."

His eyes got that faraway look again. "Yeah, it's pretty pricey to import, and the weather here isn't really conducive to growing it on a large scale. But for craft sake, it'd be worth it."

"That's what you keep in your gourd, isn't it?"

He nodded. "Did you recognize the character?" He didn't have his gourd with him at the moment, but Cana could picture the eastern writing clearly in her head. She didn't know a lot of the characters from Quon, but she'd had the one for alcohol memorized the first time she tasted a sip of the spicy rice wine.

She deliberately didn't tell him about Levy's small investigation into him. That would be too embarrassing. If he wanted to talk to her about his family, he'd have to bring it up. He deserved that much privacy.

After dinner, he took her out among the vineyard itself, where the grapes vines were piled high and beautiful along their stands, bathed in the moonlight.

"It's lovely," she said, and meant it. They walked, side by side, content merely to be beside each other for the moment. "Amazing how it all starts with a simple plant." She reached over to touch one of the leaves gently, although she was careful not to touch the green grapes themselves, lest she ruin the bunch by accident.

His hands drifted along her hair, stroking it, as she'd learned he loved to do. She had to admit, if she was a cat, she'd probably be purring at the intimate gesture.

"Wild Thing," he said softly, "Can I ask you a question?"

She froze.

"Yes," she heard herself say. She knew what was coming.

"I'd like to turn our non-existent relationship into an existent one."

She turned to face him, looking up at him. She decided to be truthful. Even though she was the most romantically experienced of her generation of Fairy Tail, it came at a steep, humiliating price.

"We can try," she said, "but I'm apparently not long term girlfriend material." She balled her hands into fists. "Every guy I've ever dated has lost interest in me after a month."

He tipped up her chin and rubbed his thumb along her jawline. "No, Wild Thing. That's not true."

She looked away, trying not to sound bitter about her bad luck in love. "They always broke up with me, so what else would you call it?"

And then he said exactly the right thing.

"They lost _your_ interest after less than a month, and they knew it, so they gave up." He leaned in very close to her, grazing his lips against her temple. "I don't intend to lose your interest. Ever."

She felt herself shiver at those possessive words, even as his kisses grew more heated.

Bacchus was actually _serious._

* * *

She returned to Magnolia very late, and she was too tired to check in with the guild to let them know she was okay. But she owed an explanation to at least one person before she passed out for the night.

At Fairy Hills, she found herself in front of Erza's bedroom door, knocking tentatively.

The Titania opened it a crack, and peered out. When she saw it was Cana, she opened the door much more widely, her face wreathed in gentle concern for the friend she'd tossed to the dogs earlier that day.

"Are you all right?" she said to the card mage. "Do you need to come in and talk?"

"Mmmm, no," Cana said, looking down at the floor. "I'm fine. Actually, I'm much better than I was this morning... I wanted, ah" she stumbled, and then took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "Thank you," she finally said, and then gave Erza a smile.

Erza, for her part, raised both her eyebrows in astonishment as Cana walked back down the hall, standing straight and proud, wearing a crown of rumpled grape leaves, with grass stains visible on her back underneath her shirt.

* * *

**Their vineyard is based off of Chateau Elan, in Braeselton, Georgia. **

**As always, thanks so much for the reviews, the favorites, and the follows. There's still more to come! I don't know when I'll get the next chapter out, because graduate school has started again, but I'll try my best to make it fast before I get too much homework piled upon me.**


	9. A Father's Love

**Woo, fifty reviews! Lots of dedicated followers, too, it seems. A shout out to Codus N over at the Heaven & Earth forums for some excellent feedback and some gentle critique. Thanks!**

**It's 1AM and this chapter is 5,000 words. Wild! ^_~**

* * *

Cana slept well that night for the first time the whole week. She hadn't realized just how tense the whole guilt thing had made her, but now it was as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

Now that they were officially "dating," she figured she owed a word of thanks to Mirajane, as well as an explanation of that situation yesterday to Erza and the rest of the guild. So she showered, put on her pretty new red top from the beer festival, and headed down the hill from the dorms to the guild.

She walked in as casually as she possibly could, but of course the guild was having none of that.

"Cana-chan! You're okay!"

"Did he hurt you?"

"We were going to send Gildarts after him!"

She held up her hand to ward off the questions.

"I'm fine, he didn't hurt him, and please don't tell Gildarts... let me be the one to tell him." She groaned at the thought of her overbearing father taking his role as protector a little too seriously. She placed her hand on her forehead, just imagining what would happen... No one had ever told Gildarts about that incident at the Grand Magic games as far as she knew, but if world reached the strongest mage in Fairy Tail that she'd been humiliated twice by the same man...

"I don't want to talk about it any more," she muttered darkly, and went to the bar where Mirajane and Kinana were keeping everyone fed and watered. She dropped into her usual bar stool, and then slapped her hand on the counter. "Screwdriver, please," she said, and Mirajane expertly tossed a shot of vodka into orange juice for the card mage. Cana took it gratefully and downed it all in one go.

"Whew!" she said, slamming the glass back on the bar. "I'm alive again!"

"Welcome back to the world of the living," Mirajane said with a knowing smile. "Did things work out with Bacchus yesterday?"

"Yeah," Cana admitted. She drummed her fingers on the table; she really did not want to go into detail with Mirajane. "We've worked everything out."

"Ah! I'm so glad for you." Mirajane's smile brightened a few notches, and Cana scowled at her; she could see the little wheels turning in the matchmaker's head.

She nursed another drink - just a simple shot of rum in milk, gotta get those nutrients in somehow - and laid out a complex card reading for herself on the flat surface of the bar. Although her work was silent, she attracted a few of the Fairy Tail members who was probably curious about the incident yesterday and wanted an excuse to be near her in case her reading somehow gave them information.

The simple six card reading she had given Bacchus was nothing compared to this. All twenty two cards of the major arcana were laid out, and the order and relationships that they fell into held nuanced and varied meanings. She was annoyed that "The Lovers" fell into the position that it did, although considering she was now officially dating the martial artists, that wasn't surprising.

But this reading wasn't for her. It was for Bacchus. She was still mighty intrigued about the situation he was in, and using her most mysterious magic (if you could call skill and intuition magic) she wanted to know more about him.

The Hierophant fell into a position dominating the reading. That indicated that the bedrock of the issue in his family was with a patriarchal authority figure, but more importantly, one who held a seat of power too.

The rest of the reading was ambiguous. It seemed there were many players involved in whatever family drama he was dealing with, and the situation was a long standing rift, not a recent development. And yet, she got a sense that there was no open hostility between those closest to him. Whoever the Hierophant was, he was distant, either physically or perhaps in the family tree. Distant, yet still the cause upon all the other effects before her.

She spent so long staring at the final arrangement of the cards that almost all her audience drifted off. Even Mirajane eventually left, so that only Kinana remained at the bar, and the violet haired woman was nowhere near as nosy as the eldest Strauss sibling.

However, one person stayed, and eventually Cana glanced beside her to see Lucy staring as intently at her cards as she had been.

"Catch anything from this?" Cana said teasingly, gesturing to the complex display.

"Not at all," Lucy admitted with a nervous laugh. "But it's pretty clear that you understand more than what is just being displayed in the pictures."

"Each card has its own meaning... its own personality," Cana said, and lovingly stroked her favorite, the High Priestess. That card usually fell into a place that represented her mother when she did a personal reading, but in this reading for Bacchus it held no maternal aspects, only its secondary meanings of wisdom and feminine insight. "Sort of like your keys. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses, and part of being a skilled Stellar Spirit mage is knowing when to use them... and when to trust what they tell you."

"Wow, Cana," Lucy said, delighted and impressed. "You've picked up a lot from hanging around me."

Cana laughed with her friend, feeling relaxed for the first time that morning.

"Ne, Lucy," she said hesitantly. "About yesterday..."

"Are you really all right?" Lucy asked, touching her arm. "Did he hurt you?"

"Right in the pride," Cana said, thumping her chest in emphasis. "But I hurt him more with my stubbornness, I think." She glanced at the cards once more before slowly gathering her deck back together. "We're dating now," she said, almost casually as she tucked her cards back into her purse.

"Really?" Lucy squeaked out in excitement, before covering up her hands with her mouth and glancing around the guild to see if anyone else had heard her.

"Relax," Cana said, stirring her dulce de leche. "I wouldn't have said it aloud if I was worried about everyone knowing." The dragon slayers all uncanny hearing abilities, and tended to eavesdrop on accident. Wendy and Gajeel wouldn't gossip, however, and Natsu was too embroiled in his daily scuffle with Gray to have noticed.

"I see," Lucy said, blushing a little. "Ahhh, right about now Aquarius would poke fun at me for never having had a boyfriend."

Cana looked down on her friend with a bit of pity. She was only a few months older than Lucy, but had a lifetime more experience with relationships. Lucy, for all her curves and confidence in her looks, was shy around men. It didn't help that her primary shots at having a love interest within the guild were a flame headed idiot, a frozen emotional recluse, and a stellar spirit who had already left a trail of broken hearts littered across Earthland.

Hell, compared to Lucy, Cana's romance situation was a _lot_ less complicated.

"So, how is that going to work? He doesn't live in Magnolia, right?"

"Right," Cana downed the last of her milk in one go. "Ah! That's the stuff." She sighed happily. "He lives in Dogwood, which is actually only two train stops outside the city." She shrugged. "Seemed Goldmine wanted to set up shop close enough to Magnolia to be within commuting distance of his house, but far enough away to not step on Fairy Tail's toes."

"Oh, that makes sense."

"So we'll be mostly hanging out on weekends, but he's only a fifteen minute train right away when I time it right." The arrangement that they had - that Bacchus would come meet her on Friday evenings and then they'd go explore the world together - was actually rather exciting to Cana. But, he had warned her, S-class missions often lasted longer than a week. If he was unable to make it, he'd send her notice ahead of time.

* * *

Cana's weekend plans were abruptly altered a few days later, but not because of his work.

She walked down toward the guild, thinking that perhaps she'd take a minor job to keep herself occupied and to not have to eat too much into her new savings from the MUI mission. She changed her mind the second she noticed the town had changed to Gildarts formation.

"Gildarts," she whispered, the little girl inside her still thrilled at the sight because it meant her father had come home. However, the rational adult in her quickly overcame the child.

Oh no. Oh no no. It was too soon. Bacchus had _kidnapped _her in front of the entire guild not three days ago.

She started running.

Someone in the guild was going to tattle. She knew it completely. Someone would be totally thrilled to squeal on her, to dish all the sordid details to her father, just for the lulz and to see the eruption of anger on his face. And if that happened and she couldn't stop it, Gildarts was going to kill Bacchus.

Running wasn't going to be enough. She grabbed a few of her battle cards, including a relatively new one that Reedus had helped her craft after the Grand Magic Games.

"Card Magic: Flee," she shouted, and she suddenly shot forward on a burst of speed that would have caused Jet to blink in surprise.

The magically induced sprint was too dangerous to keep up for long, only lasting about thirty seconds, but it was enough to propel her the rest of the way down the hill and into the guild.

She threw open the door, panting heavily.

"Where," she gasped, "is Gildarts?"

The startled and slightly guilty looking members inside the guild all pointed to the door she had just thrown open.

"He's already left," Erza said casually, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "And yes, I told him. My favor was repaid to Bacchus by letting him into Fairy Hills, and Gildarts deserved to know that you were assaulted." The older girl nodded sagely to herself, as if reaffirming the absolute wisdom of her decisions.

Cana went into conniption mode, her hair standing on end and her body quaking in rage. Erza was as dense as Natsu sometimes. "I wasn't assaulted!" she screeched, and then turned around and ran back out the door.

She couldn't use the Flee card again for a while, but the town was still in Gildarts formation, so he hadn't left the city walls just yet. He never took the trains, preferring to come and go on his own two feet. She ran down the long corridor, wheezing and gasping for air, and finally found him approaching the gates to leave Magnolia. She heard the city walls shifting behind her; it had actually been the insurance company who had paid to have the city walls move for him, nearly thirty years ago, and it would have been far too costly to undo something like that when Fairy Tail had disappeared. So the transforming city had only needed a bit of oil to return to normal when the guild returned to its old location a few months ago.

"Gildarts, stop," she shouted, but he continued to march on toward the forest, ignoring her. She could imagine him - his eyes darkened with rage, his jaw set, his determination to protect his one and only daughter's honor lining every feature.

She caught up to him and touched his arm. "Stop," tried again, but he continued on as if he hadn't heard her.

Frustrated, she ran a few feet in front of him, and shouted up to the heavens, "Papa, I said stop!"

And he stopped.

"Cana...?" he said, blinking at her, as if waking up from a dream. "Oh, Cana! My baby girl!" And then he was giving her a giant bear bug, the kind that he reserved for the young woman his only child had grown into.

She tolerated it for a few seconds before struggling to escape.

"Erza told you all wrong," she said. "Well, she was right from her perspective, but not from mine."

"She said that a man named Bacchus kidnapped you in front of the guild, and returned you to Magnolia hours later covered in bruises and grass." His voice was deadly quiet. "I'm off to find and kill that man."

Bruises...? Cana glanced down at her shoulder, where a telltale mark would probably remain for a few more days. There were quite a few of them scattered around her body, as well as some reddish patches where his stubble had scratched her. Oh, innocent, innocent Erza...

"Papa, that isn't a bruise," she said, trying not to laugh at her virgin friend's mistake. "And 'that man' is my boyfriend."

The look of pained surprise, followed by a slight brush, on her father's face touched a cord deep inside her, even if she'd never let him know how much it affected her. It was so wonderful, to have Gildarts take his role as guardian and father so seriously that he was jealous of a man she was dating.

"So he didn't kidnap you and carry you off over his shoulder?" he asked seriously, gripping her arms tightly. "Because if he's hurt you in any way I can make him regret being born."

She loved Fairy Tail. Every one of them, down to the youngest child, would have said the same words if she had actually been harmed in any way. Bacchus had been wise to negotiate with Erza before attempting his stunt.

"He did carry me off," she admitted. "But that's because he knew I was going to run away." She waved her hands, immediately regretting her choice of words. "Not because of him. The only thing he's ever hurt is my... well, he's never hurt my physically." He'd wounded her pride twice now, but the attention evidenced by the numerous hickeys she sported these days mostly made up for it.

Gildarts didn't looked convinced.

"Are you serious about him, Cana-chan? Do you love him?"

She looked away, unable to answer that just yet. "We've only really been seeing each other for a little over a week," she said. "Love is far too strong a word for what we have now. But," she trailed off. She needed to be honest with her father, if she could not be honest with anyone else. "But _he's _serious about _me_. I think."

"I see," Gildarts said, and the fierce anger from before had faded for now. "Do you think I could meet him then, sometime?"

It was not an unreasonable request. If Bacchus was as fixated on her as she suspected, then it was an inevitable meeting and it was probably better if it occurred sooner rather than later. If for no other reason than to demonstrate to the martial artist that she had one of the strongest men in Fiore at her back, as her personal papa bear guardian.

"All right," she said. "He's with Quattro Cerberus, although I'm sure Erza mentioned that." Her stomach growled suddenly; she had been planning on grabbing a bite to eat at the guild before going on a job, which was probably now not going to happen. "But let's go back to the guild first, I'm starving and I need a drink."

"Are you sure you want to go to the guild?" Gildarts asked her, and gave her a knowing grin that caused her heart to ache with love for him. "Because the first thing they're going to do is ask you questions you don't want to answer."

She tried to hide her smile, unwilling to let him see how much she appreciated his tact. He knew her as well as any father could know a daughter, even if it had been hidden from him for twelve years.

"All right, let's grab breakfast and some coffee elsewhere, then."

* * *

Later that afternoon, Cana nervously led Gildarts off the train in Dogwood, having second thoughts about whether this was a wise decision. For all she knew, Gildarts was still going to punch Bacchus for hurting his baby girl (not that she hadn't tried the same thing, but Gildarts wouldn't be stopped easily like she had been.)

She had never been to Goldmine's guild before. Dogwood was a very tiny town, no more than a village really, and the guild building was set on the outskirts. She saw estates surrounding it, including the vineyard on the hill in the distance, and several mansions nestled in the rolling barrows below it. It was actually a really nice neighborhood, full of wealthy retirees and prosperous farmers.

The decor of the guild, on the other hand...

"They take the 'dog' part too seriously," she said with a grimace as the stared up at the facade of the building.

It was a dog house.

A giant, freaking, fire hydrant red dog house. Oh, and there were fire hydrants lining the walkway that led up to it, stylized bone shaped shutters on the windows, and suspicious looking piles of dirt scattered around the yard. Surely they didn't actually bury stuff in their front yard...

"One of the strongest guilds in Fiore now, eh?" Gildarts said, as unimpressed as Cana. "Goldmine left Fairy Tail when I was still young myself, but I never pegged him as being such ... a weirdo."

"Bacchus is a weirdo too," Cana said, her mouth twitching as she thought of him, "but in a different way."

She strode up the walkway, and took a deep breath before rapping on the door. She had considered demanding to see him and throwing him over her shoulder in revenge, but he was a solid wall of muscle and her Strength card was too dangerous to use for a silly prank, as it could break her bones and tear her muscles if she wasn't careful.

The door cracked quickly, and one of the younger puppies opened it up widely when she saw there were people there. They were a strong guild and had no reason to distrust visitors.

"Welcome to Quattro Cerberus," the child said joyfully. "Are you here to submit a mission request?"

"No," Cana said, unable to resist the infectious charm of the young girl. For a child to be that young inside a guild meant one of two things - someone in the family was in the guild, or she was an orphan and the guild had taken her in. The guilds doubled as orphanages for children who had magic talent, as the state owned facilities were unequipped to handle them. "I'm here to see Bacchus."

The girl looked a bit awed, and opened the door more widely. "Come in," she said. "I'll go fetch him."

Cana glanced back at Gildarts, who nodded and followed her inside. The interior of the dog house was much like any other guild hall - a large area filled with tables, a bar along one wall, a stage along another, and the third wall dominated by the mission board for its members.

The little girl ran over to the bar, where naturally Bacchus was draining away the alcohol budget of the guild one expensive bottle of liquor at a time. Cana watched, amused, as she tapped his arm nervously and sent his gaze over to where Cana and her father stood.

Ah, there it was. His face lit up, and then split into an enormous grin. She'd never met someone so happy just to see her.

He stood up and quickly sidled over to her, picking her up and crushing her in a bear hug just like Gildarts had given her this morning. She could feel her father's aura behind her; he was not pleased.

"Wild Thing!" Bacchus said joyfully, and to the astonishment of the guild members, planted a big kiss on her forehead before setting her down. "You came to see me!"

"Yes," Cana said softly, pretty embarrassed by the massive public display of affection. She crossed her arms to hide her nervousness. "A situation came up and it couldn't wait until this weekend..."

She heard a faint growl from behind her, and hurried up with the introductions. "My father came into town and he wanted to meet you," she said all in a rush.

Bacchus glanced behind her to see Gildarts frowning coolly at him, and his grin altered slightly. "I didn't know your father was Gildarts Clive," he said, and took a few steps forward toward the older man. He held out his hand for a friendly handshake.

Gildarts gripped it, and Cana winced as she heard bone crunch. She wasn't sure whose it was.

"I'm surprised you didn't know, we haven't exactly kept it a secret, and it was all over Weekly Sorcerer not too long ago," Gildarts said, pumping the martial artist's hand a little too enthusiastically.

Cana took a few steps away. She was good at sensing undercurrents between people, and every instinct right now told her both men were itching on the inside for a fight.

"Ah, Gildarts," a familiar voice said, and Cana glanced behind the men to see the guild master of Quattro Cerberus, Goldmine, approaching them. He had traded in his Fairy Tail mark when Makarov was promoted to go off and found his own guild, and he had aged considerably over the last seven years, so that his hair was almost completely gray yellow and he now sported an old man goatee that he was apparently trying to grow out to impressive lengths. "What brings you and your daughter to our guild today?"

Gildarts looked Bacchus directly in the eye, and said, "I've come to challenge this young man for the honor of my daughter," he said.

"I didn't ask you for that!" Cana shrieked, and was about to give her father a well deserved boot in the shin, but she stopped when Goldmine nodded sagely.

"All right, you have my permission. But... please do it outside. We don't plan for regular guild reconstruction in our budget like Fairy Tail does."

* * *

Cana sat with her head on her knees, groaning at the way this afternoon was turning out.

They had moved to an empty field behind the guild. Gildarts and Bacchus were squared off against each other, with Goldmine acting as referee. The entirety of the guild had moved outside; someone with some foresight had brought out the popcorn machine and they were passing around buckets of the stuff.

They were also taking bets. The two S-class mages were similar in build, although Gildarts had a disadvantage in the number of intact limbs. No doubt her father's magic was stronger, but Bacchus was in his prime, immensely fit and physically powerful. In a pure melee fight, Bacchus would probably win, but a mage's fight was never only about melee advantages.

She heard footsteps and looked up to see Goldmine approaching her, the young girl in tow.

"Is your dad really going to beat up my brother?" the girl chirped, and Cana immediately looked up, startled. Brother...?

She took a closer look at the child. She was no more than nine or ten, and her lovely features were also clearly from the lands far to the east, beyond the kingdom of Pergrande. Her innocent features held no guile; she was genuinely curious about the situation.

"Well, your brother could beat up my dad," Cana said, although she doubted it. Gildarts was quite possibly the strongest mage in all of Fiore.

"Nope," the girl disagreed. "Bacchus is gonna get his butt beat up."

Goldmine looked fondly on the little girl. "Diana here is very good at judging magical power," the old man said. "Sort of like a human MPF."

Cana immediately thought of Susan - the lacrima lab would probably love to have someone with that ability for their lacrima testing.

"Hi Diana," Cana said, and held out her hand for a shake. The girl looked a bit surprised at the acknowledgment, but then took her hand and gave it a limp shake. "My name is Cana."

"Pleased to meet you," the girl said, lifting up the hem of her silk shirt as if it was a dress and giving her a graceful curtsy, but then giving Cana look full of reverence. "Wow, you're as strong as your dad," she said.

Cana shook her head. Mavis had said the same thing. "I still have a lot of training to do," she said. "I'm not even S-class yet."

"But you will be," Goldmine interjected. "And some day you'll be the guild master of Fairy Tail."

Cana had to laugh. "Good one," she said, and caved in when someone handed her a box of freshly popped popcorn. It did smell good. She started crunching on the buttery stuff.

"Well, your father doesn't want the job, and Makarov will eventually have to retire." Goldmine was serious. "As will I soon. I don't mean that you'll be the _next_ guild master, but someday, the job may well be yours."

She took another look at the guild master of the puppies. He had been a decade younger than Makarov when they were on a team together, but that age gap had been mostly erased during the lost years. His expression remained unreadable, as always, behind his sunglasses and his silly mage's hat - a souvenir from a mission long past, she had once heard - but the faint smile on his lips was still the same.

"It's starting," Goldmine said quietly, returning her attention to the field in front of her.

The two men, squaring off like angry stags, had finished building their battle auras. The immense magic emanating from Gildarts roared around them and distorted the air and the ground. Bacchus, on the other hand, was concentrating his magic within his limbs, so that they glowed with power.

She munched down another piece of popcorn without thinking about it, and then held it out to Diane. Gildarts wouldn't actually _hurt_ Bacchus... would he?

It was Bacchus who charged first, of course, with an impressive kick that actually caused the older mage to shift a few feet in his stance. Gildarts simply disintegrated the ground beneath the martial artist's feet, causing Bacchus to dance up in he air for a few moments before he regained his balance.

It was a work of art, really, the way Bacchus moved gracefully through the air. Cana held her breath as her father attempted blow after blow, but kept missing. And yet, she knew that Gildarts was holding back.

But so was Bacchus.

They were just measuring each other, still.

"Hah! This is fun, old man!" Bacchus taunted as he reached over for his gourd.

"I never battle for fun," Gildarts replied. His voice was gentle, lecturing. "And neither should you."

The battle heated up then - Bacchus actually landed several blows on Gildarts, but he made the mistake of targeting his left arm and leg.

"Ouch, are you made of steel or something?" Bacchus called, his grin dropping down a few notches as he rubbed his sore hands. "That's wild!"

"In a few places," Gildarts replied nonchalantly. "Finest automail in Fiore."

"Then that's got to be your weak spot!" Bacchus rushed at him, hands ready for a serious pounding on the joints where the magical prostheses were joined to Gildarts real body.

And suddenly, it was over.

Gildarts knocked Bacchus out with a single mighty blow.

There was a collective "Oooooh," from the guild as one of their strongest members fell to the ground, completely unconscious.

Cana felt herself dropping the popcorn and running for the fallen martial artist, knowing that Gildarts had still been holding back but also fearful for her lover.

"You didn't have to clobber him so hard," she complained to her father as she cradled his head in her lap. She could practically see the little drunk baby falcons spinning around his concussed skull.

"It's okay, Cana-chan," Gildarts said, his own grin returning in full force as he patted his daughter's head happily. "He's still got some growing up to do, but he's strong. I approve."

She looked up at her father, astonished.

* * *

Bacchus slowly came to inside the guild once their bartender had poured him an aromatic drink and stuck it under his nose. The Drunk Falcon's nose had twitched, and he'd started lapping at the drink like a wounded animal for a few moments before his eyes opened into slits.

"That was wild," he croaked, and Goldmine clapped him on the shoulder.

"Good job," the guildmaster said. "Gildarts is the strongest mage in Fairy Tail."

"Man, I keep losing to fairies," Bacchus grumbled, blushing and looking a bit humbled. He gave a nod to Gildarts, who was quietly sipping a whiskey on the other side of Cana. "I'm beginning to wonder if Wild Thing here could beat me too."

"I'm not fighting you," Cana said flatly.

Gildarts cleared his throat. "If you ever hurt my little girl," he said, staring intently at his whiskey, "then what you experienced will be multiplied a hundred fold."

"No one asked you," Cana sniped at her father, but she was secretly pleased that everything had more or less turned out like she'd hoped.

Bacchus said nothing, but Cana saw his Adam's apple bob up and down as he swallowed involuntarily.

"I do have one question, though." Gildarts turned to his daughter's boyfriend, a genuinely curious expression now on his face. 'What on Earthland is in that gourd that makes you so powerful?"

Bacchus grinned, and then reached over to where his little sister was sitting on the other side of him for a hug. "A father's love, you could say." And he downed the rest of his vile aromatic concoction in one go.

* * *

**Graduate school has picked up in earnest, but so far the workload is reasonable (I'm a project manager, not a programmer, so most of what I'm doing is a lot of emailing so far.) Hopefully I can get another chapter out in a week or so. I'm excited about these next few chapters!**


	10. Moonshine

**Ten chapters! Wheee! Slightly shorter chapter this time, but this is what I had on the outline for this chapter, so this is what you get. **

**Thanks for the typo-catching from everyone, especially regarding Cana's last name. I'll need to go back and fix those. "Alberona" is not exactly in the standard Open Office spellcheck dictionary, but maybe I need to add it.**

* * *

Cana sent Gildarts back to Fairy Tail on a train that evening, but stayed with Bacchus out of a feeling of obligation as his girlfriend since he was wounded. Also, she hadn't seen him in a few days and she missed him, even if she'd never admit it out loud.

They ate a light dinner at Quattro Cerberus - she was glad, and grateful, that it was _not_ served in dog food bowls as she'd initially feared it might be - and then made their way a few blocks down the street to Bacchus's apartment. They left Diana at the guild.

"Diana doesn't live with you?" Cana asked, trying not to sound too nosy.

"Naw," Bacchus said easily. He was still clutching an ice pack to his head where Gildarts had beaned him. "I'd probably be a bad influence on her if she did."

She glanced sideways at him, unable to disagree with that. But the questions inside her still burned and lingered.

After a few moments, he finally volunteered more information on his own. "Diana is still new to the guild, and she wanted to stay in the girl's dormitory. There are so few girls in our guild - we've got a reputation for rough masculinity, after all - and she thought it would be fun to live with them instead."

That made sense. "Ah, yeah, when I was a kid I moved into Fairy Hills as well, although I didn't have anywhere else I could have stayed." Gildarts had a home in Magnolia, but Cana's fear of rejection had prevented her from outing herself as a rightful inhabitant of that house. And once she joined the guild, even before she developed her unique take on card magic, it had been easy enough to do odd jobs for the guild members to earn her keep. A delivery here, an errand there, and as long as she was careful she'd been able to pay her Fairy Hills rent. Aside from the time in Tenrou Island, she'd never missed a deadline for it either.

They reached a very nice house - no mere apartment, this was a full-sized multi-story townhouse - and Cana did another double take at Bacchus. This home probably cost a small fortune for him each month if he was renting it.

"Do you have any room mates at all?"

"Nope." He turned the key to the door, and opened it up to reveal a tidy, Spartan living space. "I like my solitude."

She stood in the foyer of the town house, noting the zen-like decor - all black and whites and wood - with carefully chosen touches of color in a few places. She grinned when she saw that a lot of the furniture was made out of recycled sake barrels. The other furniture all looked new and high quality. He must have hired an interior decorator.

"Make yourself at home," he said, gesturing toward the black leather couch. "I'm going to go dump this ice pack in the sink."

Feeling a bit self-conscious, she sat on the luxurious couch, and set her purse on the sake barrel coffee table. She liked his home. It seemed to reflect him a lot.

He returned a few moments later, and plopped down on the couch next to her unceremoniously.

"So, what do you thing of Chez Bacchus?" he asked with a grin, spreading his arms wide, raising one of his jaggy eyebrows in invitation.

"It's cleaner than I expected for a bachelor pad," she answered evenly, with a smirk.

"Hah! You've found me out. I'm a closet neat-freak." He then placed one hand on her knee, and Cana had a feeling that if she had worn a skirt instead of her capri pants, that wandering hand would be trying to make its way up her thigh.

"So," she said, watching his hand, fascinated by it. The back of it was crossed with tiny scars over the ropy tendons. "I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Oh?"

She took a deep breath. Now or never. "Since you met my father, would it be all right for me to meet your parents? That is, assuming they are still alive, or that you get along with them..."

The hand stilled.

"Oh, they're very much still alive," he said, a little too easily. "And I get along with them as well as any young man in Fiore could be expected to."

She sensed the hesitation at the end of his sentence.

"But...?" she prompted, looking at him earnestly. She was glad to know they were still around, but he looked distinctly uncomfortable at the subject.

"But if you meet them, they will assume we are getting married." He grinned a _huge_ grin then.

She recoiled a little.

"But we've only been dating for a little under two weeks!"

"Eh, it's a cultural thing," he said with a shrug. "Can't be helped. If I bring a woman home to meet them, they'll start planning for a wedding in a month."

The sour expression on her face made him relax and laugh again. "No worries, Wild Thing. I won't take you there unless you're ready to go."

Remembering Levy's research, and thinking of "cultural things," she took a different tack to unpeeling the mystery of Bacchus.

"Your family is from Quon, right?"

He nodded.

"How did they end up here in Fiore?"

The grin faded a bit, and his face was serious. "That," he said softly, "is a very long story. And I guess I can tell you." He reached over to stroke her hair. "But for that tale, I'm going to need a stiff drink. I'll be right back."

She watched as he left again to go to the kitchen area, tucked behind the sparsely furnished dining area. She had a feeling that he did not bring other people here often, not even other women. There was only one chair at the dining room table, with another three neatly lining the walls of that room, perhaps if he did ever have company. She was secretly pleased to be an exception to his routine.

He returned quickly with two shot glasses and a crystal bottle filled with a clear liquid - presumably alcohol - with lemon rinds floating in it, perfectly preserved. He set all this on the coffee table, next to her purse, and poured each of them a glass.

She could smell the alcohol, and she eyed the glass nervously. This was no amateur's shot.

"Illegal moonshine from the Pergrande Kingdom," he explained. "Alcohol is outlawed there, and yet their black market produces some of the most amazing stuff." He lifted the shot glass and tossed the alcohol back neatly. Cana followed suit, and she almost spit it back out. Her throat was on fire and her eyes were watering. The liquor was almost pure alcohol!

She started half laughing, half coughing at the unexpected flavoring. It was strong, but tasty. There was just a hint of lemons among the burning bright molasses flavor.

"That's got to be at least a hundred and fifty proof," she said once she had recovered, her voice hoarse.

"Hundred and sixty, estimated. And it has a few other chemicals in it besides the alcohol, I think. It's made from sugar beets." He refilled his shot glass, and tipped the bottle toward her. "Want another?"

She nodded, never one to back down from a challenge involving alcohol.

* * *

She caved five shots later, leaning against the back of the couch, the world spinning. "Let's see, at 80% alcohol, if I've had seven two-ounce shots, that's fourteen ounces... ten? Eleven and a half?" Her brain was too fuzzy to do the math. Whatever "other chemicals" they'd added to that vile drink, it was probably outlawed for a reason.

Bacchus was also done, and he also leaned back. "I needed that," he said, closing his eyes and yawning.

"Hey, don't fall asleep on me just yet," she slurred, poking him. "You promised to tell me about your family."

He kept his eyes closed, but began to talk in a slow voice.

"What I am about to say... we have never said to anyone in this town. Not even the guild knows."

She sat up, the hair on her scalp prickling in anticipation.

"My great-grandfather is the Emperor of Quon."

Cana felt her jaw drop open in astonishment. Was she so drunk that she was hearing things? No, he had definitely said what she heard him say. She propped herself up with her arm on the couch, and said nothing, wanting to let him continue uninterrupted.

"My mother is a matrilineal princess; her mother was a daughter of the Emperor and his first wife. My father is of the noble house of Du. They were matched when she was only a few years old, and he five or six. They were married right away, as is the custom for the royal family, and then she was sent to my father's house to be raised among them."

Cana couldn't help but shudder at the thought of children being married to each other. The concept would have been alien in Fiore. Even among her mother's people, where they married young, children were allowed to grow freely until they started to show interest in the opposite sex on their own time.

She processed the rest of what he said. "So if your mother is the granddaughter of the emperor, you're not in line for the throne, are you?"

"Heh, _that's_ not even on the table. I'm the male heir of the Du family before anything else." He shrugged. "I wouldn't want that job anyway. The heir apparent to the throne of Quon, third in line, is a distant cousin." Bacchus stared at the ceiling, probably thinking of the relatives on the other side of the planet. "Patrilineal descent male great-grandson of the emperor. Sheng Li. Nice guy, so I've heard." He reached down and poured himself another shot, and downed it quickly. "We've never met, although he was married to my sister Venus when she was a year old."

Cana drew in a breath. Her instincts told her that they'd reach the heart of the matter now. She waited for the other shoe to drop.

"My great-grandfather arranged the match, and wanted her to move in with the royal family, even though she was just a baby." Suddenly Bacchus grinned. "My mother refused and fought him like wild animal. She wasn't letting go of her only daughter..." He started to tick off on his fingers. "You see, I'm the eldest... she had me when she was fourteen, and apparently I nearly killed her in the process. It took another nine years before she could bear another child - that would be Venus - and after that it's been daughters non stop. But she didn't know that at the time of the marriage between Venus and Sheng Li." He sighed happily. "The feud between my mother and her grandfather was legendary. He made her so angry she destroyed an entire wing of the palace in her rage." He set the shot glass down with some finality. "And she made him so angry he exiled our entire family."

He pointed to the tattoos under his eyes, looking at Cana again finally. "This is the mark of exile. We all bear it, even Venus. Only the younger ones who were born once we arrived in Fiore, like Diana, have no marks."

Cana knew that her jaw was still open from before, but she couldn't help it. Her cards had all been right - the Hierophant was the Emperor of Quon. The High Priestess was likely his mother. The rift in his family was deep, but also old. Once again, her cards had predicted this situation with eerie accuracy.

But even she couldn't have guessed at such a deep and terrible family drama.

"How long as you been exiled?" she asked gently.

"Twenty one years." He was staring at the wall now. "Since I was nine years old. We arrived with little but the clothes on our backs, although my father's family still supports us since he wasn't stripped of his title." He grimaced. "My mother got her wish - we have Venus, the bride of the heir to the throne of Quon - and have had her ever since. We can't go back until Mother apologizes to the emperor, and she refuses."

Her heart broke for the boy who'd been ripped from his home and country, and brought to this place, where he probably didn't even speak the language. Still, he seemed to have made the best of it. He was one of the strongest mages in his guild, and certainly didn't seem to be hurting for money or material comforts.

This time, she placed her hand on his leg, in a gesture of solidarity. She too had had to leave her childhood home and find a new world at a painfully young age. She too had kept the origin of her family a secret, even though her father was often close enough for her to touch.

"So, yeah. That's the whole story, Wild Thing. Me and little Diana are the only ones who are part of the guild scene; Venus's magic isn't suited for battle, and we'd all be beheaded if something happened to her. Minerva, Vesta, and Ceres think that Quattro Cerberus is full of stinky men and want no part of it."

Cana suppressed a laugh; she had to guess them between the ages of twelve and fifteen, with attitudes like that.

"Maybe they should join Fairy Tail instead," she teased.

His eyes twinkled. "Hey! That's not a bad idea, Wild Thing."

"What about their names? And yours." She cocked her head to one side, dying to ask hundreds more questions but not even sure where to begin with her scrambled mind.

"Ah, my birth name was Yun Qi Du. Venus was Jia Li. After our exile, my mother had our names changed for the registry in Fiore, probably to spite her grandfather. Unfortunately, the only Western names she knew were from mythology..."

"So you were the only two born there?"

"Yeah. But Fiore is the only country Venus has ever known, just like the little ones." He closed his eyes again, and Cana felt the room spinning herself. Even if they were both Level Four MUIs, that just referred to their control over their magic when they were this insanely drunk. The rest of their physiology was not immune to its effects.

If she _really_ wanted to sober up and go home to Magnolia, she still had the lacrima ball from Susan in her purse. But Cana did not want to lose the effects of the alcohol so fast, even if she had gone over the top with that moonshine. Vile stuff.

She also wanted to stay here with Bacchus, who had just told her a story that had cost him a lot of emotional energy. He needed her here right now.

So instead, she curled up next to him, letting the mild poison course through her body, letting him know how much she appreciate him sharing his family's tragedy with her.

The both fell asleep on the couch, holding hands.

* * *

The morning sun was bright, streaming in from the windows of his living room.

Cana was not used to waking up next to a man she hadn't slept with. Okay, they'd been _sleeping_ on the couch, but they had both been so wasted from that moonshine that sex hadn't even been an option. They were both completely clothed. At some point during the night, he'd stretched out along its length, and she was tucked under his arm on top of him.

She yawned and stretched, then winced as her muscles cramped up from being in the awkward position all night. Ugh. She needed an Irish coffee and a shower.

She patted his cheek gently to wake him up. She had to smile at the look of fuzzy surprise in his eyes upon seeing her face.

Oh, this was _fun_. She could definitely get used to waking up that face every morning. Why had she run away the first time? Oh, right. Because she was a coward.

"Good morning," she said in a deliberately smoky voice.

His sense of time and space finally clicked and he grinned back at her. "Morning, Wild Thing. That moonshine is something else, isn't it?"

She studied that face, finally understanding the heavy weight he bore on his shoulders, symbolized by those pebbly tattoos under his eyes.

It was time for Cana to _stop_ being a coward. Too many times she let opportunities slip past because she was afraid to take that first step. No more.

"I'd like to meet your parents after all," she said, and kissed him on the lips before he could protest. "If they try to get us married off the next day because of it, though, I reserve the right to run away again."

He laughed, blinking, still trying to wake up.

"Okay, Wild Thing. Lets plan for dinner this Friday." He stroked her hair in a gesture that was becoming achingly familiar. "I'll meet you at the train station here in Dogwood."

* * *

**Bacchus, Venus, Diana, Ceres, Vesta, and Minerva are all Roman gods and goddesses. **


	11. Tiger Mom

**I have to say, I haven't had this much fun writing a story in a while. I don't think I can keep up this breakneck pace, but I'm going to plow through as long as I have the momentum. **

**As always, thanks for the reviews, favorites, and follows. Does anyone know of any fan artists that might be willing to do a custom cover for this? I'd take a stab at it myself, but my art is super rusty and I wouldn't be satisfied with it... **

* * *

Cana sighed as she stared in the mirror, still unsatisfied with her appearance even with the help of Lucy and Levy. She'd enlisted their aide for dinner that night, even though she hadn't told them the real reason she wanted to dress up so much. It certainly wasn't in her character to fuss too much about her appearance, preferring to let her natural beauty shine through, but there was a tiny part of her mind that kept screaming at her that she was going to be hanging out with _royalty_ and she should damn well try to look as respectable as possible.

So she found herself wearing a stunning amethyst gown that they'd all bought together at a boutique Erza recommended that afternoon, with Lucy's Cancer giving her a feminine up-do with wispy curls trailing over her shoulders, and Levy carefully applying small touches of makeup to her face to accentuate her features. Her silver earrings and necklace finished the ensemble. Her one concession to practicality was her comfortable chunk-heeled sandals; there was no way in hell she'd be walking around both Magnolia and Dogwood in stilettos.

"You look divine-ebi," Cancer said in his sultry voice, twirling one last curl around the hot iron he held.

"If I wasn't dating Gajeel," Levy said, sticking her hands on her hips and admiring her handiwork, "I'd think about taking you home to meet my own parents."

Cana and Lucy laughed along with Levy.

"I just feel like I'm faking it," Cana said, poking at the bodice of the gown that lifted her ample bosom into full fledged cleavage. "I'm so used to putting comfort over fashion..."

"You look fabulous anyway," Lucy insisted. "Just... don't punch out _his_ dad, or else you might be short a boyfriend." She giggled again.

"Now, the hardest part is going to be getting to the train station in Dogwood without getting messed up," Levy said thoughtfully. "Do you want us to escort you?"

Cana shook her head, touched by her friend's excitement for her. "No, I think I can handle that much on my own." She smoothed out her gown one last time. The colors brought out the purple tones in her eyes, and complemented her hair and her dusky skin. The dress was a mottled lavender and cornflower and white, that faded down to the deeper purple colors with black marbling near the ends. The bodice was also trimmed with that marbling effect. It had cost her a lot of money, nearly fifty thousand jewels, but she'd probably re-use it for the next dozen weddings she attended.

"I feel so frilly!" She scowled. "Cancer, I changed my mind. I want my hair down."

"Understood-ebi." In a whirl of a brush, scissors, and a streak of magic, Cana's up-do fell down into a cascade of curls.

"Ah, that's better," she said. The curls were a lot more polished than her normal tangle, but it just felt more like her.

It felt more _wild._

She grinned, finally pleased with the way she looked.

"Thanks again guys," she said, with a hug to Levy and Lucy. "I'll do the same for you if the opportunity arises..."

Lucy and Levy glanced at each other, and Cana realized the stupidity of what she just said. Levy's boyfriend was a dragon slayer with a missing dragon parent, and Lucy's men-in-potentia were all similarly orphaned (or not even human.)

"Oh, you know what I mean," Cana said, rolling her eyes, and then Lucy and Levy laughed again. Of course they did.

* * *

Bacchus met her at the station, and gave her a wolf whistle of appreciate when he saw the new dress.

"Wild Thing, who told you you were allowed to be so sexy?" he teased, and greeted her with a hug despite their public location.

She touched her nose to his, her eyes sparkling in challenge. "You did. It's all your fault I'm this drop dead gorgeous." She tossed her hair over one shoulder haughtily, and he laughed, as she knew he would.

"At this rate, I may feel the need to detour over to my place before dinner," he said, sliding his arm down to take hers in what was now a familiar gentlemanly gesture.

"If you mess up the hair and makeup my friends spent two hours on, I may need to mess up your face," she threatened, and bumped her hips against his as they started walking.

"You can mess up any part of me you want," he said agreeably. "I'll leave you nice and un-mussed for now, though. I can't do anything girly like hair or makeup. That's chick stuff."

Cana agreed with him, although she didn't admit that she was pretty bad with "chick stuff" too.

She was surprised when they started climbing the hill toward the vineyard again.

"I thought we were going to your parent's house for dinner?" she asked, very glad she'd opted for the comfy chunk heels as they began the hike.

"We are," he said, and then blinked. "Oh, I guess I never told you. This is my family's estate. The vineyard, winery, and restaurant are all owned by my parents."

Cana stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes widening.

"You said you arrived in Fiore with little more than the clothes on your back!" she said, staring at the massive estate building on the hill.

"I also said that my father's family supported us," he said with a chuckle. "They're the largest producers of rice wines in the world. After we moved here, the Du Estates of Quon decided to expand from _jiu_ and sake to Fioran grape wine... and so my parents bought Dogwood Estates."

Something nagged her from her memory.

"So when you said you wanted to retire on vineyard some day and grow sake, you meant _this place_?" She gestured her arm wide, taking in the whole hill with its rows of grape vines.

"Maybe. Or one like it further south, where rice can actually grow." He shrugged. "Come along." He tugged her gently, and she unfroze and followed after him, still a bit floored by this turn of events. She'd known Bacchus was personally well off, but she'd never realized his family was _rich. _

The main living house was on the other side of the winery building, hiding snugly behind the hill. Several other buildings surrounded it, probably to serve various purposes for the tending of the grapes and the processing of them into wine. The grounds were neatly kept, with a lovely garden visible, attached to an outdoor patio. Cana suspected a few plant mages must be in the family, given the wildly oversized appearance of some of the fruits and flowers.

She'd been at a several mansions before, over the years. The moderately wealthy made a great show of their money, with expensive toys everywhere and lots and lots of stuff.

_This_ place was on another level entirely. The house was large, but not obscenely so. And yet, every material that went into it was richly detailed and amazingly colorful. Her eyes grew wide as she looked at the peculiarly arching roof, covered with clay tiles that had been painted green, in stark contrast to the vermillion wood panel walls. They entered through ornate double doors that were opened silently by a butler who must have seen them approaching the house.

The floor of the foyer was plain marble, and Cana knew she was gawking but the architecture was out of this world. And yet, there was little furniture. She saw a single table near a staircase, holding a vase with fresh flowers, but the space was cavernous and empty. Their displays of wealth were simply built into the very walls.

She heard a low rumbling in the distance, and it quickly resolved itself into the sound of many feet pounding down the stairs. She watched, open-mouthed, as the feet appeared, attached to little girls. Lots of them.

"Nii-san!" they cried, and started throwing themselves at Bacchus, with cries of "Fight me! Fight me, Nii-san!"

Bacchus, for his part, was laughing as he picked up the girls and hurtled them away. They giggled, recovered, and re-attacked him. Cana had trouble counting because there were so many of them and they were bouncing all over the place, but she finally distinguished six of them, ranging in age from seven or so to fifteen or sixteen, although it was hard to tell because they were all so petite.

After several minutes of the giggle girl onslaught, Bacchus stood victorious, his little sisters gasping for breath from laughing so hard around him. By now Cana had had to join in laughing, because it was just so funny to see them attacking so ineffectively. Diane did not appear to be among their number, either. These must include the group who proclaimed Quattro Cerberus too stinky to join.

From above, another female voice called out "Fight me!" and Cana looked up to see another older girl swooping in, her feet and arms charged with magic. This time, however, when Bacchus attempted to block, he was swiftly knocked down by the sheer force of her magic. Cana's eyebrows shot up. This one was strong.

The girl - no, woman, Cana realized - crowed to herself as she set a slippered foot on Bacchus's chest, pinning him to the ground with that single limb.

"Hah! I win again, son!" she said, looking pleased with herself.

Cana had to stare at what could only be Bacchus's mother. She was petite too, and wore a more elaborate version of the simple pajama-like outfits the pile of daughters around her were sporting, with touches of gold brocade and jeweled embellishments. She had the pebbly tattoos under her eyes that marked her as an exile, although none of the little ones bore that mark. This was the maternal line granddaughter of the emperor of Quon, a woman so confident and sure she had defied the man himself in order to protect her family.

As she stood there, crowing her effortless victory over her own son, Cana couldn't say she looked very princess-like.

"Mother, please let me up so I may introduce you to my companion," Bacchus grumbled. His mother immediately canceled her magic and lifted her foot, and looked toward Cana, like a child distracted by a shiny new toy.

"Oooh!" she said, and Cana swore the woman was bouncing on the soles of her feet. She approached Cana, peering at her intently, and Cana stared right back, taking in the exotic woman's appearance. Her jet black hair was shot through with gray, and her pale skin held a few wrinkles around her almond shaped eyes, but her lithe build and immense magical aura lent her an air of youthfulness as well. She realized now that it was his mother that had taught him how to fight.

And then suddenly she dropped into the most graceful curtsy Cana had ever seen, like a dancer.

"Pleased to meet you," she said. "My name is Lin Hua, but you may call me Juno."

Feeling slightly off-put, Cana found herself holding her hand out for a good handshake instead. "I am Cana Alberona, the card mage of Fairy Tail."

Juno stared at the hand for a few moments, before grinning and grabbing it enthusiastically. "Of course! One of the lost mages of Fairy Tail. I saw you during the games. Do you think you could hit me with that spell you used to break the MPF? I want to see if I can withstand it!"

"I really can't cast it that frequently," Cana said truthfully. "It's one of the three Great Spells of my guild, and I shouldn't use it unless it's serious."

"Oh, of course," Juno agreed, waving away her hand to dismiss it. "I understand. Come, girls," she said, turning to the curious array of stair-step children behind her. "Your older brother Bacchus has finally brought a betrothed home! You must come meet her!" She clapped her hands, and before Cana could correct her on the whole "betrothed" thing - Bacchus had been right, dammit - Juno started naming off the girls one by one. They curtsied as their names were called. "Vesta, Ceres, Minerva, Luna, Larunda, and finally little Fides." Juno nodded in satisfaction after listing off her brood. "Diana is at the guild, and Venus is still preparing for dinner."

Eight little sisters. Eight! No wonder Bacchus was so arrogant and spoiled. He was the only son in an enormous family. And yet, he'd picked her. Cana, the first women he'd apparently ever thought enough of to bring home to meet his parents. He stood behind her, and she could just _feel_ his confident smirk as he set one hand on her shoulder possessively,

And his mother already thought they were getting married. Cana tried not to frown.

What Cana had told Gildarts was right - Bacchus was dead serious about finding a wife and settling down.

"She's so tall, Bacchus! I'm sad you didn't find a cute one like your mother," Juno said, pouting as she looked up at Cana. The petite mother of nine came up to about the level of Cana's chest. "But she's very pretty. And so slender!" The girls behind her pointed and giggled, whispering among themselves about the strong beauty their brother had brought home.

Cana would have been more inclined to accept the compliment if she didn't feel like a cow being presented to a meat inspector.

"Let's go to the dining room; your father is already there. Come, girls." Juno clapped her hands and let the entourage of daughters along behind her, like a mother duck. Cana couldn't help but smile as the youngest of them, Fides, kept turning back around to stare at her.

"They're so adorable," Cana said to Bacchus in a quiet voice as they also started walking across the opulent foyer toward a far archway. "I kind of want one now." Cana, for whom up until this point the idea of becoming a mother was anathema, wanted an adorable little girl who would fight men five times her size with all her power, braids and card magic flying.

"I'll gladly given you a dozen," Bacchus murmured back.

Cana tried to snort disdainfully, but failed as she ended up laughing instead.

"How on earth could you have bet Elfman a night with his two sisters when you've got eight little ones of your own?"

Bacchus grinned, and Cana could swear his teeth gleamed even as his eyes glittered menacingly. "I wanted to ensure he'd fight for his all. He claims to be a manly man. No _real_ man would ever let a lecher like me near his sisters."

Cana's eyebrows shot up at that new insight into Bacchus's twisted but still mostly honorable character.

"Indeed," she agreed.

They walked into a large dining room, with a single table dominating the room. An older man at the far end stood up, and Cana knew instantly that he was Bacchus's father. He was tall and rather frail looking; he was no martial artist unlike his royal wife. But he processed slowly across the room with a strong purpose, and Cana felt more intimidated by him than she had Juno.

He stopped just short of Cana, and grabbed her chin gently but firmly, staring into her eyes and briefly examining her.

"Lovely," he said after a few moments. "So she is the one."

"Yes," Bacchus said, and Cana felt a shiver at the note of finality in his voice. The one _what?_ The one who would become this man's daughter in law? It was still way too early in their relationship to be talking about marriage, even if having a kid with Bacchus would be the easiest way to clone herself a cute little daughter like his sisters. She had to have one. They out-cuted Wendy tenfold.

"My name is Jove," he said, leaving off his given name. Like his son and his wife, he had the tattoos under his eyes, and he also wore earrings similar to Bacchus. He sported an impressive graying beard, and it was this that gave him the appearance of an age greater than what it was - he was only five years older than Juno, who was only 45, if Cana's math was correct. "And your name, my dear?" He finally dropped her chin, leaving Cana free to talk.

"Cana Alberona," she said, once again feeling as though she were an object to be inspected and judged by these people. At least they liked what they saw so far.

"Do you like sake or _jiu_, my dear?" the man said, turning toward the table.

"Of course," Cana said, finally relaxing. Alcohol was a subject that always made her more comfortable.

"To be expected. I didn't think Bacchus would choose someone who was a teetotaler. Come, sit by me and try my latest batch." Cana found herself sitting in between Bacchus and his father, while Juno got the girls settled into the seats at the table. Jove poured her a small cup of hot sake from a decanter, then poured one for himself and his son.

She inhaled deeply of the fragrant steam, enjoying the aroma of the rare treat. "You brewed this?" she asked, before she let a small slip of the liquid flow over her tongue. The flavor was spicy and pickly and had very subtle notes of jasmine. Oh, it was _good._

"Yes," Jove said. "I have to have the rice imported from Quon, but my family are brewers by tradition, and I see no reason for that to change even if we live in Fiore."

They drank the precious stuff down, but no food was on the table yet. Another girl entered the room from the archway, and Cana turned to see her.

Cana's eyes widened again.

This could be none other than Venus.

Unlike her little sisters, she wore a long black and gold dress that hugged her figure. She was much taller than her mother, and would probably come up to Cana's nose. Her hair was pulled into two large hoops that draped from the sides of her head to her shoulder. Gold ornaments were woven into her hair. She was also painfully beautiful; her hair was not quite black, but a dark gray, and her features were so perfect and even that Cana could have easily mistaken her for her namesake. Hell, forget Venus - this was the face that launched a thousand ships and caused wars between nation states of old. Every inch of her screamed that she was a future empress.

But she too had not escaped the branding of exile, although the perfectly spaced dots encircling her eyes were gold, not black, and they were studded with rubies, giving the appearance of an intentional decoration.

The rest of her family waited until she had been seated at the table before they resumed conversations. Cana felt a bit sorry for her; she was _here_, but yet not here. She was different and treated differently. She was the whole reason that this family was in Fiore to begin with, and yet they did not seem to welcome her that openly to the table.

Feeling brazen, Cana reached her hand across the table, proffering it for a shake. The little sisters all let out collective gasps, and Venus looked at the hand as if it was an alien thing for a few moments.

"I'm Cana," she said, wondering if she had just made a terrible miscalculation.

But after another moment of hesitation, Venus took her hand and shook it firmly. "Venus Du Ming," she said. "It is my great honor to meet you." She smiled, and it was the same smile that Bacchus had, as if her whole face was lighting up in joy. She was easily the most beautiful woman Cana had ever seen.

Cana let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, and the dinner conversation resumed as if nothing had happened. Venus was not so much ignored as she was treated with some sort of reverent awe by everyone around her. They were, Cana realized, intimidated by her. Probably not because she was a princess in exile, but because she was so goddamn pretty you just didn't know how to act around her.

Now that all twelve people were seated at the large table, servants began to filter in carrying platters of food. Cana had never been to a dinner quite like this - family dinners to her meant her mother making her favorite meal when she was very young, or even better, taking her to her grandmother's house to eat with her cousins. These days, it meant trying to cobble up something palatable with Gildarts, who wasn't much better of a cook than she was. She'd never eaten in someone's home where the home owners were not the ones doing the cooking, but that was definitely the case here.

Jove poured them all another round of sake, and Cana savored the taste. The food came in short bursts of small courses, and was passed along the table, where each person took only a small serving from the bowl or basket. Still, it was a lot of food, and by the time the third basket was passed around, Cana and Venus alike started passing over the dishes.

"Someone's a picky eater like me," Venus said in a low voice, and Cana rewarded her with a tight smirk.

"Gotta maintain our girlish figures, right?"

Venus smiled back, covering her blinding white teeth politely with her hand.

* * *

The rest of the dinner progressed quickly, and before long the family had split up, Juno herding the army of younger daughters back upstairs while Venus, Bacchus, and Jove retired to a small parlor.

"Give us a song, Venus," Jove said, as he poured glasses of wine from another decanted bottle for Cana and Bacchus.

Without saying a world, Venus seated herself at a harp in the corner and began playing. Her father leaned back in his chair, his glass of port in hand, eyes closed, listening to the gossamer sounds. Cana felt herself transported elsewhere on the music, and even Bacchus looked calm and peaceful.

After the song ended and she rose from the harp, Cana told her, "That was beautiful. Do you sing as well?"

Venus shook her head. "I've got the voice of a crow when I sing," the princess said, and seated herself gracefully on the chair across from her father. "I learned at an early age not to even try."

"Yeah, all the wolves in the distance would start howling in pain," Bacchus agreed, earning him a pillow thrown from Venus. Cana was beginning to like the girl more and more.

"So, your magic is card magic?" Jove said, not opening his eyes. "Are you a fighting mage as well?"

"I am," Cana said, glancing at Bacchus. "Although I don't think I am as strong as your wife by any stretch."

"Hah! No one is as strong as mother," Bacchus said, sounding pleased. "I'd love to see her duke it out with your father, for that matter."

"Juno is an exceptional fighter," Jove agreed. "But there is more to magic than just fighting." He picked up the bottle of port and stroked it lovingly. "I have an agrarian sort of magic; the magic of the vine."

Bacchus handed her a smaller bottle labeled with the Quon character for alcohol; a bottle of sake. "Father makes us a special battle sake that he infuses with magic. Both my mother and I use it. Go on, try it."

Curious, Cana opened the bottle and gave it a sniff. The fragrance was overpowering, and she almost sneezed. She heard Venus laughing lightly at Cana's reaction.

Undaunted, Cana poured herself a small amount of the alcohol, and knocked it back with the expertise of a professional lush. The immediate explosion of magic within her was like nothing she'd ever had before from any drink.

"What.." she began, shocked at the spike of power.

"That is the secret of the Drunk Falcon," Bacchus said, poking her with an elbow. "Don't let it get out."

Cana was still trying to deal with the clarity of the magic coursing through her blood. "This is amazing," she said. This felt like the "second origin" that Lucy had described to her, that Crime Sorciere had unlocked for her and the others, or like the time she first received Fairy Glitter from Mavis. It was... almost indescribable.

"Well, it's amazing if you're a battle mage," Venus said softly. "I'm just good at growing things, so I don't drink the stuff." The princess twirled her glass of port, content with the sweet dessert wine.

Cana thought of Droy, who probably used a similar magic to Venus. "You can still be a battle mage if you use plant magic," she said. She wanted to pour herself another glass of that amazing sake, but she had a feeling it could quickly lead to an addiction if she wasn't careful. She returned to her own glass of port instead. "How long do the effects of this last?"

"A few hours," Jove said. "You'll want to avoid repeated use, though. Once a battle is usually enough, according to Bacchus."

"Well," he said, "usually by the time I need to take a sip, I've worn my opponent down enough that they don't expect me to have such a potent second wind."

Cana grinned. "Yeah, you almost took out Elfman that way as well. If he hadn't thought of the lizard form, you'd have clobbered him pretty effectively." She sipped her port, and turned to the princess again. "So, have you ever tried to use your magic for battle? You'd be surprised what a plant mage can do in a pinch. Fairy Tail's Team Shadow Gear has Droy, and his magic lends an interesting support role to their group."

"I've never tried to fight with anyone besides my sisters," Venus said, and looked down. There was that sadness in her eyes again. "I've never been allowed to leave the estate."

* * *

Cana ended up drinking far too much of Jove's amazing port wines, and she was grateful to accept his invitation to stay overnight. (Although she had been pointedly shown to a different room from Bacchus by Venus, probably to avoid giving the gaggle of younger girls any ideas about their big brother's lecherousness.)

As she said good night to what was probably the most beautiful woman on the planet, Cana gave in to an urge and gave the older girl a big hug. Venus probably didn't get enough of them.

The princess returned the hug gratefully. "When you marry Bacchus, we will be sisters," she said, and gave Cana a kiss on the cheek.

"You have enough of them already, it seems," Cana answered drily.

"They are my mother's daughters," Venus corrected. "As am I. But they don't think of me as their older sister... I am the wife of Sheng Li, and by all rights I should be with the Ming family right now."

"Bacchus told me," Cana said, squeezing her arms sympathetically. "We're not getting married, though. Bacchus and I. We've only been dating for a few weeks yet. I wanted to meet you because my own father demanded that he meet Bacchus, and it seemed like the best next step for us."

"Oh?" Venus looked surprised. "But he said you were the one."

"The one what? That's what your father called me."

Now it was Venus's turn to look sad. "The girl he was to marry in Quon died just before we left for Fiore, and he begged our parents to let him choose his own wife. So Bacchus was permitted to roam free and join a mage's guild, with the caveat that he marry by his thirtieth birthday. He is running out of time. So you are the one he has chosen."

Cana hissed slightly. "He never quite mentioned that detail to me," she said with a scowl. So _that_ explained his aggressive pursuit and wooing. "Although he did warn that you would think we were engaged if he brought me home."

"But you chose to come here, no?"

"I did." Cana sighed. She ran her hand through her hair, pulling it away from her face in an agitated gesture. "We've only been dating for a short time. It's too soon. I'm too young to get married!"

Venus smiled, and it was her turn to pat Cana sympathetically on the arm. "I was married at the age of one," she said. "But I've never even met my husband."

The family rift was too deep. It was causing pain to everyone. Cana could see it in Venus's eyes, and a linger vein of the magic boost from Jove's battle sake allowed her to mentally arrange a card reading and draw conclusions from the order the cards appeared in her mind, in a flash. It was if she was able to tap directly into the magic that her cards touched upon in her unconscious.

"You want to leave Fiore, to travel to Quon," Cana said softly.

Venus looked startled, and she glanced around furtively before nodding many times. "Yes. Yes, yes. I am the only one that can solve the family feud. I belong in Quon. I want to meet my husband. Oh, there are so many things I want to do!" She grasped Cana's hands, grateful to have a kindred soul for the first time in her life. "Will you help me? Will Fairy Tail help me? I'll pay you anything, and Sheng Li will pay you more. We've been in secret correspondence all this time... Oh, I was afraid to ask." She was shaking with emotion, and Cana could tell how long she'd kept these desires bottled up inside. "Mother will never let me go."

Cana gave her another hug as the beautiful creature began bawling on her shoulder. She sighed and stared at the lacquered wall on the other side of the hallway.

"I can't make any promises," she said, "but I'll put in a formal job request for you at Fairy Tail. Maybe someone there will be interested in smuggling a princess to Quon."

"Thank you," Venus said, unable to stop her tears. "Oh, thank you."

* * *

Cana found herself lying awake on a huge bed a while later, freshly bathed, all alone, staring at the draped curtains that festooned the posts above her head.

And she had thought _her_ family was screwed up. She kept thinking about Venus – she must feel so trapped here, but if her tiger mother was determined to keep her locked up, then what could she do? Frankly, it seemed to Cana that Juno had already gotten her wish – her eldest daughter had grown up by her side – and if she _really_ wanted to end the feud, she could claim victory but still apologize to her grandfather and everything would be okay. Only her pride seemed to be holding her back.

As she mused about how Fairy Tail could pull of the Great Princess Heist, she heard the door to the bedroom open, and she sat up in the bed, not surprised to see the hulking figure of Bacchus creeping in.

He sidled across the room in silence, and greeted her with a hot, open-mouthed kiss that left her no doubt what he had on his mind.

"I guess it's time to be mussed up now, huh?" she whispered.

He answered with a wild grin, and climbed into the bed with her.

Much later, Cana found her thoughts returning to her cards. Maybe they would guide the way to helping out Venus.

Another jolt of the battle magic sake hit her again, surprising her. She'd thought it had worn off already.

_Sun. Moon. Stars._

And with a sudden start, she realized she'd finally figured out how to combine them to form Fairy Glitter. It was so _simple._ The combined spell was incredibly complex, but if she broke down each component associated with its light source, she could probably store it in her cards just like Mavis had stored it in her arm – as a symbol. She could pre-charge it, and keep it around for emergencies. And that would let her cast it much faster than trying to gather all the components at the same time she chanted the full spell.

Well, that wasn't going to help Venus, but if she could solve a hundred year old magical riddle, surely she could think of a way to help the princess in due time.

"Damn, that stuff is amazing," she muttered into Bacchus's shoulder, as the last burst of the battle magic enhancer faded away. "I've got to ask Jove for a bottle of it..."

* * *

**Jiu is Chinese rice wine. **


	12. Mission

Venus had given Cana Sheng Li's contact information, and Cana had dutifully sent him a letter outlining the Fioran guild system and their mission request practices. A mission that involved kidnapping a person was most likely going to be listed as S-class, so Cana hoped that whatever guild - whether it was Fairy Tail or someone else - had their most sensible and discreet mages on it.

But several weeks came and went, and even accounting for the travel time for the letter to go halfway across the planet, no mission appeared. Venus had told Cana that she and Sheng Li had been in contact via secret letters sent from a homing pigeon in her garden to a post office in Harjuan. Cana wondered if the letters were quite as secret on the other end. Given what little she knew about the Emperor of Quon, it seemed unlikely that he would allow the heir apparent unfettered contact with the outside world.

In the meantime, Cana had other things to worry about.

"A light beer today, please," she told Mirajane at the bar.

Everyone in Fairy Tail went suddenly silent as if she had just announced she was cutting off all her hair She felt dozens of eyes on her, and she turned around to glare at them.

"I can drink a light beer if I want, okay?" Everyone suddenly found interesting things to look at on the floor or the ceiling.

Mirajane expertly opened the bottle with a quick flick of her wrist, and poured it into a frosty glass for Cana.

"I've been eating too well lately, and not using enough magic," Cana admitted, sipping the low calorie beverage. "I've gained a few pounds." She winced as she poked her hip bone, underneath her Fairy Tail mark. Her pants had been just a bit tighter that morning than normal, and she had vowed to nip that problem in the bud.

Mirajane zipped in very close, and said seriously, "Are you _sure_ you're not pregnant, Cana? Because if you are, you shouldn't even be drinking light beers. You have to go completely dry."

"I'm not that stupid," Cana retorted. "And I'm definitely not pregnant. I've been on the pill since I was sixteen." She grimaced. "No, this was me enjoying too many dates with Bacchus that involved fine dining, and not having gone on any strenuous missions for the past month." She sighed. "Maybe I should have a good spar with someone, burn off some energy..."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," Mirajane said. "Oh, that reminds me. A package came in for you from the University of Bristlecone."

"Oh?" Cana's curiosity was piqued as Mirajane went around the back to find a medium sized box. The older girl handed it to her expectantly, and Cana stared blankly at it. The return address from was Susan Allstone. "Oh!"

She tore into the package, pretty sure she knew what was inside.

"What is it?" Mirajane asked, also very curious.

Cana pulled out the gadget triumphantly. "It's the newest version of the Magic Power Finder." She set the device onto the bar counter, pleased that Susan had thought of her. "The scientists who built the one I broke at the games most likely want me to test this one." She scrounged around until she found a note, which said exactly that. "It seems the new version goes up to 99,999 this time."

"Well, there you go," Mirajane said with a pretty smile. "You can go burn off some calories by trying to blow that thing up again!"

* * *

_"Gather, O river of light that is guided by the fairies!"_

Cana held out the Sun card, concentrating not only on the words, but on the symbol that lit up on the card as she said them. She left it suspended in the air, defying gravity.

_"Shine! In order to perish the fangs of evil!"_ The moon and stars cards were added, with the second and third pieces of the symbol appearing on them as she said they words.

The symbol glowed briefly once all three cards were aligned, then disappeared. The spell was now fully charged.

_"Fairy Glitter!"_

She grabbed all three cards out of the air at once, and the symbol flashed briefly on her arm before she tossed the spell onto the magic power finder about ten feet away.

It was as if lightning flashed from above, only somehow brighter, a blinding splash of light that landed on the innocent device. Unlike its predecessor, however, this one absorbed all the magic and dully displayed its number without even moving.

"Sixteen thousand, nine hundred, and eight two," Bacchus told her, as she was still trying to recover from the spell. "You're almost twice what that old man Jura was able to put out."

Cana collapsed onto her bum, panting with the effort. "Damn, Mavis," she muttered to herself. "What the hell did you put into that spell?"

Bacchus dropped next to her on the field, his easy grin not quite masking the pride that glittered in his eyes. "Wildest magic I've ever seen, Wild Thing," he said, giving her an elbow.

She fell backwards onto the soft grass of the vineyard, completely spent of all her magic.

"The problem is," she said, "that one spell takes everything I have. If it doesn't succeed, I'm done."

"Yeah, it's probably only good as a last resort. It's not a spell meant to be used in an endurance fight."

She nodded, but she was staring at the three cards she still clutched in her right hand, incredibly pleased with herself all the same. "This is the first time I cast it all on my own," she said, stroking the Sun card with her thumb.

"You did good, Wild Thing." He squeezed her other hand.

Things had been going well with Bacchus. Cana was beginning to be concerned about the depth of her own feelings for him - she'd never had a relationship that lasted this long, or gone this well before. She felt as though she was at the edge of a cliff, the view spectacular, and she knew she would have a lot of fun if she para-sailed over the edge. But it was still a little scary, admitting to someone you'd probably fallen in love with them.

She wondered if she - no, _when_ she should tell him. Wasn't that supposed to be a big deal, telling your boyfriend you're actually in love with him? That the dates are nice, the sex is better, but he's actually inspired some root of deep seated emotion in the girl with the daddy issues?

She wanted to do a card reading, to perhaps give her a clue, but she already knew that the answer would be "when the time is right."

Not today. Not just yet.

She squeezed his hand back anyway, grateful for his presence and the tenuous connection they shared, which grew stronger daily.

* * *

"Hey Cana," Mirajane said, interrupting the brunette's communion with her morning wine. Cana glanced up at her, and saw Mirajane jerk her head off to one side, indicating that she wanted Cana to follow her someplace more private.

Cana stood up and followed her into one of the storage rooms, quite curious. The new missions had just come down from the council; maybe there was another MUI mission there?

Sure enough, Mirajane handed her a mission sheet, but it was nothing to do with MUIs. The mission was marked as S-class, with a reward of ten million jewels. Cana's eyes grew wider.

"This came in just now," Mirajane said softly. "Do you know anything about the emperor of Quon's missing great grand daughter? Since you spend so much time in Dogwood."

And that is how the mission was framed - that the great granddaughter of the Emperor was kidnapped twenty years ago, and they had it on good authority that she was in the city of Dogwood. The reward came with the caveat that she was protected by a cadre of mage bodyguards, all S-class, who would likely need to be defeated. She was to be delivered, unharmed, to Port Harjuan, and upon safe delivery to the capital of Quon, the reward would be issued. Once a guild accepted the task, the emperor would send a boat to wait for delivery of the lost princess.

Sheng Li had gone up the food chain, it seemed. Cana hadn't anticipated the emperor getting involved so directly. She also hadn't thought about all the consequences of what she had done.

"Yes," Cana said weakly, staring at the mission broadside. "She's Bacchus's sister." Cana closed her eyes. "That information is NOT to get out to the rest of the guild, Mirajane Strauss, or else I'll tell Gray about the odds you currently have on him and Juvia by year's end."

Mirajane's face, fully serious for once without the twinkling of the demon beneath, nodded. She did not pry further. "Does Bacchus know about this mission?"

Cana shook her head no. "His sister - Venus - asked me to contact her husband, and see if they could arrange a guild contract." Cana realized her hands were shaking as she stared at the paper... what had she done?

"So she _wants_ to be rescued." Mirajane's voice was full of understanding. "That explains quite a lot."

"Desperately. Her family has been keeping her against her will, because of a feud between their mother and her grandfather..." As she said the words, the reasons she had agreed to help Venus came back to her. Bacchus or no Bacchus, Venus deserved a chance to live her own life, and the princess honestly believed that once she was returned to Quon, her family would be properly reconciled and it would all end well.

"Quattro Cerberus also received this mission this morning too," Mirajane warned. "You need to talk to him about it before he sees it."

Cana nodded. "I'm kicking myself for not telling him before... This is going to be so awkward." She could just imagine the conversation. Hi Wild Thing! Hi honey. How are you doing? Not too bad. By the way, I arranged to have your family's house invaded by the other guilds in Fiore. Hope you don't mind. Oh sure, no problem Wild Thing. Let's go out for a drink!

Cana groaned and sank to the floor. In the month that they'd been dating, she'd learn that to Bacchus, his family was his most precious and important thing. If there was ever a choice between her and them, she'd lose. Just like if it ever came down to him and Fairy Tail, her guild would be her only choice.

"I hope he forgives me," she said, clutching the sheet. "Mira, can I hold on to this until I talk to him? I will return it."

Mirajane patted her friend on the head. "Of course, deary. And if things go south, remember that we always have your back."

* * *

That was the longest train ride Cana ever took, even though it was only fifteen minutes away. She could only hope that Bacchus was away on a mission - she'd crash his apartment and camp out for him, stopping him before he got to the guild. Actually, it was probably better to head there first. He was not an early riser, and unless he had specific business at the guild he would likely not wander in until sometime after lunch.

Her hunch was right - she bumped into him walking down the street, probably on to the guild just now. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wild thing!" he said, echoing her imaginary conversation perfectly.

"Hi Bacchus," she said, her voice distinctly less enthusiastic. She clutched the mission in her hands. The day of reckoning had arrived. "Can we go back to your apartment? We need to talk in private."

"Sure," he agreed, but he must have sensed her mood, because there was a wariness about him.

They walked the short block back to his townhouse, and he graciously opened the door for her. Her stomach was heaving in fear, and she really just wanted a stiff drink. Scratch that - _many_ stiff drinks.

But some things in life needed to be done while you were sober.

She settled on the couch, took a deep breath, and started talking.

She told him about the conversation she had with his sister on the night she visited. How Venus believed she was the only one who could save the family. How she had begged Cana to let Sheng Li know about the guilds in Fiore, and to ask for a mission to rescue her. How she had been in contact with her husband for years, secretly writing to him, how she loved him and wanted to be with him despite her mother's wishes. How Cana had written to Sheng Li, telling him about the guilds and how strong mages in Fiore could probably reunite them.

Cana handed Bacchus the mission sheet.

"I should have told you this before I wrote him the letter," Cana admitted. "I didn't even think about it. That was a major mistake, one I wish I could correct. But I cannot."

She held her breath, waiting for his reaction.

The light had gone out in his eyes.

"Well," was all he said.

And then he crushed the mission paper in his hand.

Oh _Mavis_, he was angry. Cana's shaking returned. She was scared - not that he'd hurt her, but that she'd done irreparable damage to their relationship. "I'm sorry," she said, and stood up. She had to get out of there, give him a chance to cool down.

"You've endangered my family," he said, and grabbed her hand to stop her. He was careful not to hurt her, but she could feel the tension in his grip; he was holding back. "You've put my mother, my father, and all my little sisters at risk. And all you can say is 'I'm sorry' ?"

Cana pulled her hand away sharply. "I had to," she said, and stood up straight. Ah, there was the spine. "As a mage of Fairy Tail, after hearing the story from Venus, how could I not? Holding her captive against her will is not honorable. Your mother had her way for _twenty years_ - she was able to raise her daughter as she saw fit, and it appears she raised her very well indeed." Cana took the crumpled mission paper away from him. "You're an S-class mage, you could take the mission yourself and put and end to this all at once."

He looked at her then, with an expression of pain and misery like none she'd ever seen.

"I don't think we should see each other any more, Cana."

She felt her heart collapse somewhere down to her feet. But she still had her own pride.

She squared her shoulders and walked toward the door, ready to leave before she made a scene.

"And here, I'd gone and fallen in love with you," she tossed over her shoulder, knowing that this was probably the last time she'd have an opportunity to say the words.

Cana fled.

* * *

She held back her emotions until she reached Magnolia again. The town was in Gildarts formation; he had come back in the brief time that she was in Dogwood.

She used her Flee card, and ran toward the guild, needing to get into the shelter of her home turf before she exploded.

The spell petered out just before she arrived, and she gave herself a few minutes to catch her breath. The adrenaline overrode the raw emotion she felt from their breakup, but it would not last.

Cana burst into the doors of Fairy Tail.

"Where's Gildarts?" she said, her voice cracking.

He heard her call his name, and looked up from his spot at the bar, a smile lighting up his face when he saw her.

"There's my little girl!" he said jovially, and she stood rooted to the spot, ready to burst into tears but unwilling to go into hysterics when everyone was looking.

Gildarts picked up on her mood, probably from the grimace on her face. "I'll be back," he said to Kinana, leaving his drink on the bar. He hurried over to Cana, took her by the shoulders, and escorted her to the second floor of the guild, where they could have some privacy.

"Oh papa." Cana found herself sobbing onto his chest, grateful for this man and his compassion for his only child. "I made a horrible horrible mistake."

"Are you pregnant?"

She gulped enough air to say, "_No!_" Why did everyone keep asking that?!

He shushed her, as if _she_ was a baby, rocking her back and forth as she tried to explain the whole mess at once. Eventually she got the whole story out, at least a PG rated version of it.

After a while, her crying subsided. Gildarts examined the mission page, now all crumpled up and stained with tears.

"Ten million jewels, eh," he said thoughtfully. "And most of the 'cadre of S-class mages' is made up of little girls?"

Cana hiccuped and nodded. "Only Juno is really strong enough to pose a problem. She was able to knock Bacchus down with a single kick."

Gildarts pulled on his stubbled chin thoughtfully. A small flicker of awareness dawned on Cana.

Was he actually going to...?

"I'll take this mission, Cana-chan." He patted her on the back. "Don't worry. Papa will make it all right."

* * *

**I... I didn't mean for this to happen. It wasn't in my original outline. And now the latest chapter of FT has me worried about everyone in canon...**

**I'll try to update soon, do not despair!**


	13. Poison

**Sitting here with a busted up knee courtesy of an epic prat fall at work. At least I got paid to go to the doctor. In more positive news, I finished the system upgrades (solid state drive) to my monster beast of a workstation and now it makes an off the shelf home computer cry in shame. Just remember, computers aren't any harder to build than it is to bake a cake, as long as you can read instructions. XD**

**Hooray for more Bacchus in the FT manga! And hahaha, Cana was totally hanging out with the QC boys!~ Say it with me now: canon here we come!**

* * *

Sometimes Cana felt like she was cursed.

She had been moping in her apartment for the last twenty four hours. She knew everyone at the guild was probably worried about her, but unlike her depression on previous occasions, there was a deeper ache this time that she wanted to keep private. She'd never believed that having your heart broken could also cause so much physical pain, but her throat was sore and her chest hurt and she had no more tears left to cry.

Not telling Bacchus about her letter to the prince was probably the biggest screw up in a lifetime full of screw ups based on withholding important information.

But if she had told him, what would he have done? He'd probably have reacted in much the same way he did this time, with genuine concern for his family. But Venus was his family too, dammit, and she was suffering. Gildarts had been given sole control of the mission, and he would ensure that no one was seriously injured in the operation - killing people unnecessarily was not Fairy Tail's way.

A knock sounded on her door, and Cana reluctantly stood up to go answer it. She was going to have to leave Fairy Hills soon anyway... she was running low on supplies. The last bottle of alcohol she had left was a precious flask of Jove's magical sake, and she wasn't going to risk killing herself with more than a sip of that at a time.

On the other side was Lucy, looking genuinely concerned.

"Hey, Cana," her friend said, her arms behind her back, rocking onto her toes nervously.

"Hi Lucy." Cana sighed and ran her hand through her greasy hair. "I suppose you've come to make sure I haven't killed myself or something." She crossed her own arms in front of her stomach and leaned on the door frame, not caring that she looked like a hot mess. "Don't worry, I'm not so thin-skinned I'll get suicidal over a man."

"Ah," Lucy said, and looked slightly relieved. "Actually, Gildarts did want me to check on you. But he also wanted me to let you know that he's recruiting more of us for the S-class mission he accepted." Lucy's eyes glittered briefly with dollar signs. "Ten million jewels! And it just seems so cool, rescuing a princess. Like a genuine fairy tale."

It seemed as though Gildarts hadn't let Lucy in on the real nature of the mission. Cana let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Maybe she was going to make it through today after all.

"All right," she said, and stood up a bit straighter. "Let me grab a shower and I'll be at the guild in a little while."

* * *

"_Am_ I cursed?" Cana asked Mirajane some time later. She had been given an entire (mostly empty) barrel to herself out of pity from the bar maid, and she had made short work of it, pushing her blood alcohol up near her ceiling. "Yet another man dumps me a month into the relationship." She hiccuped and took another swig from the barrel, grateful for the workout for her arms. Maintaining awesome triceps was tough work, but a hundred lifts of a thirty pound barrel was a great way to get a daily routine in.

"I don't think you're cursed," Mirajane said helpfully. "I think you just have to find the right man still."

"If Bacchus wasn't the right one... then who will be?" the card mage said mournfully, and Mirajane didn't have an answer for that. "Hell, Mira. He was a better _drinker_ than me. Tall, dark, handsome, rich... why did I have to muck it up so badly?"

Mirajane gently took the barrel away from Cana, but she'd already drained it of the remaining wine, so she didn't fight with her friend over it.

"Sometimes we don't always foresee the consequences of our actions," Mirajane said softly, and patted Cana on the arm. "Go, I think Gildarts is about to start his meeting."

Cana stood up and stumbled to the other side of the guild hall, where her father had carefully gathered up the team he wanted for this mission. It was small, but he had a strategy and knew exactly what he needed.

Himself. Lucy. Erza. And Cana.

"All right," he said, and glanced furtively around. Natsu, Gray, Gajeel, and Levy were all out on their own missions, which was probably a good thing because they'd otherwise try to butt into anything Lucy and Erza were involved with. "Let me run down what our plans are going to be. We're going in on this Saturday night, next week. By then, the ship from Quon should be ready, according to the full mission details." He pulled out a hand drawn map, which Cana recognized as Dogwood Estates. "The princess is being held in a house behind the winery and restaurant. Our mission will be to grab her and get her to the train station so we can take her to Harjuan. We want no damage to the estates, no casualties, and minimal fuss."

"Are the ones holding the princess bad people?" Lucy asked, and Erza also looked on the map wide-eyed.

"Not necessarily," Gildarts said, sharing a pointed glance with Cana. "Misguided, perhaps. But not evil. So." He pointed to the winery. "Erza, I will need you to create a distraction at the restaurant. Make as much fuss and noise as possible, but try not to destroy the building."

Erza nodded.

"Cana, Lucy, and I will go around to the house. Cana, you said there's a garden back there that likely has access to the living areas?"

Cana didn't mention she'd been in that house. "Yes, I saw a garden back there with a door," she said cryptically.

"All right. When Erza creates her distraction, Cana will run down to the house and knock on the door, asking for help. Lucy and I will break in, and once we find the princess, Lucy will use Gemini to create a copy of her. Hopefully we can escape without being caught, but if we are found out, Cana and Lucy will take the real princess and run to the train while I fight off the guards. Gemini will act as though she is the real deal, and say that the other intruders escaped, but point them in the wrong direction. I'll do my best to escape myself at that point, and meet up with you at the train station, or in Harjuan if necessary."

The plan was pretty simple, and Cana had a feeling things wouldn't go down that easily, but she was prepared to help Venus however she needed to be helped.

"Once we're in Harjuan, we-"

A sudden commotion near the front door of the guild cut Gildarts off mid sentence, and the four temporary team members half rose from their seats to see what all the fuss was about.

Cana gasped and nearly fell over the bench when she saw what was going on.

There was Bacchus, on his hands and knees, pulling himself across the floor of Fairy Tail.

He was very, _very_ drunk.

"Nee-san," he mumbled, and grabbed Lisanna's ankle. The youngest Strauss sibling squeaked and recoiled from contact. "Can you tell me where Cana is?"

Lisanna looked instinctively to the back of the guild, where Cana was still half-hanging over the plank seating, propped up by Erza.

"Bacchus," Cana whispered, but didn't move.

"Wild Thing!" he croaked when he saw her, and resumed his trek. Everyone watched, stunned, as the strongest drinker in Fiore dragged himself across their floor, only to collapse at Cana's feet.

"I've heard of a jilted lover 'crawling back' to someone else, but this is the first time I've _seen_ it," Gildarts said, eyeing the pathetic lump of martial artist at his daughter's feet.

Cana crouched in front of him, amazed. Was he really ... passed out? She poked him, then pulled his cheek. No response. He was out cold.

But Bacchus was supposed to be able to hit a point three five before he...

Trying not to panic, she quickly pulled out her breathalyzer and placed it up to his lips.

She hissed when she saw the numbers.

"He's at point four," she said, her own minor inebriation fading fast as the urgency of the situation struck her. "This is an emergency. He's at risk of poisoning... he could die!"

* * *

In the end, it took both Elfman and Gildarts to haul the enormous muscled man up the stairs to the infirmary on the second floor. Wendy had done her best to try to keep him alive, and in a moment of insight Cana had pulled out the lacrima sobering balls and pressed each one of them into his hands, willing his highly tolerant body to process the poison while they waited for Porlyusca to arrive.

For that is what ethanol is, a poison. It gives a pleasant sensation to the human body in low doses, but at high enough concentrations in the blood, impairs judgement, depresses the nerve system, and can cause a loss of consciousness or even death. It has its uses - it purifies water, it preserves and flavors food, and it acts a social glue in societies where it is accepted. But in the back of a heavy drinker's mind is always the reminder that alcohol, when abused, can kill you.

Wendy finally collapsed from exhaustion next to her, and Cana had picked her up and carried her to a separate bed in the infirmary. She'd be okay, but she had used too much magic and needed to rest. Cana wondered briefly if a sip of the special sake might restore the little dragon slayer, but decided against it as the girl was really too young to drink alcohol. Another year or two, perhaps.

Porlyusca finally arrived, and took one look at the fallen S-class mage. Her eyes widened in recognition. His guild stamp was on his back, but his distinctive hairstyle gave him away.

"One of the puppy dogs, eh?" she said sharply, but the tenderness of the healer's hands as she touched her patient belied her words. "One of Goldmine's strongest brats, and a foolish one at that, it seems. I should just let him die."

"He won't die, old lady," Cana replied tartly. The sobering balls had sapped her of all that wonderful wine she'd drunk earlier, and she was on the _other_ side of dry, where someone was so irritated and cranky that they needed a drink just to feel normal again. "He's too stubborn for that." She stroked his hand gently.

"Oh-ho, know him that well, Cana-chan?"

Cana ignored the bite in the elderly healer's voice. She and Porlyusca didn't get along very well; they were too similar in a lot of respects.

"Anyway, the best cure for acute alcohol poisoning is fluids and bed rest. Wendy stabilized him, and he seems to have processed a lot more alcohol than he should have by now." Cana looked away, blushing, as Porlyusca lifted up the sheets to arrange the necessities for a man undergoing short term hospice care.

"I had a device to help sober us up," she admitted once Porlyusca was done. She handed the little lacrima balls to the healer. "They were a gift. In fact, why don't you take one. I don't really need two."

One of the old woman's eyebrows shot up. "What does it do, exactly?"

"The creator of them said it speeds up the metabolism of the body temporarily. So for any poison that needs to be excreted from the body in a hurry, it might help."

Porlyusca nodded in understanding, and tucked the ball into her satchel. "Thank you," she said gruffly, then scowled at Cana. "And you! You're not eating properly. Alcohol is no substitute for real calories." The old woman scrutinized her closely. "I don't think you've slept for a while, either." She narrowed her eyes, and then glanced at the sleeping man on the bed, then back at Cana. Something clicked in her mind.

"Are you pregnant?"

_"NO!"_

* * *

Bacchus didn't wake up again until late in the evening. Cana stayed by him the whole time, partially out of concern for him, but also because she was afraid he might wake up and leave without talking. She'd done it to him before, after all.

"Mmmm," he said, waking Cana up from where she had dozed off. "Wild Thing," he murmured, his eyes lighting up as they always did when he saw her.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," she said softly, and patted his hands. "You gave me a hell of a scare there."

"Bottle of Everclear," he said, and tried to sit up with a hefty groan. "On top of everything else I had in the house except father's magic stuff."

They were not so different, Cana thought. Bad thing happens to you? Drink through your stock.

"Well, you can write a letter to Susan at the university to thank her, because those little toys we got at the beer fair just saved your ass." She scooted closer to him, wanting to hug him but a bit unsure of the protocol. They were officially broken up still, right? Was she allowed to hug him? Maybe a platonic, friendly hug?

"I'll do that." He sighed and fell back onto the bed. "After you left, I just couldn't stop drinking. I've never lost control like that before."

She stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.

"After I finished the last bottle in the house, the Everclear, I realized I just wanted to see you. I managed to stay upright on the train ride, but once I got to Magnolia I realized I'd gone over my limits."

"You were at point four," she told him. "Even an MUI level four license isn't good for that high."

He blew out a breath in irritation. "Screw the permit. I just wanted to stop thinking for a while." He drummed his fingers against the blanket. "You know the old saying of wine, women, and song? Well, nobody in my family can sing, and I don't want any other woman but you, so that left the wine."

She felt her lips twitch, but she tried to suppress her smile.

"No other woman but me, eh? So does that mean you forgive me?"

He was silent for a long time, and Cana realized he was struggling with a terrible internal argument. His loyalties were divided between her and his family.

"Yeah," he said finally, and Cana wanted to cry out in joy. "I realized I never took into consideration how Venus felt about the whole situation. I mean, she's my little sister too. I never knew she was that miserable." He took Cana's hand again, and gave it a squeeze. "Our mother is incredibly stubborn, and I think her pride has finally hit the point where it's doing more harm than good."

This time, Cana really did reach over to give him a big hug.

"Gildarts is going to do the mission," she told him, snuggling up next to him on the bed. "A few others from Fairy Tail will help out. We'll do our best to get in and out without hurting anyone."

Bacchus nodded. "I want to help, too. Not for any reward money, but because you'll need me." He closed his eyes. "My mother is strong, probably even stronger than your father. If she was in a guild, she'd be known as the strongest mage in Fiore. I'm not sure you alone can stop her. You'll need my help."

"Of course," Cana agreed. "And having you will be a big help, since you know the house better than I do."

She gave him a kiss on the forehead, and then stood up to stretch. She was quite cramped from being there all day, and Porlyusca was right - she needed to get some food in her stomach.

"Is this the part where we have make-up sex?" Bacchus asked hopefully, raising one of his quirky eyebrows suggestively.

Cana wrinkled her nose. "Not while Wendy is around," she said, and pointed to the next bed over where the wee dragon slayer was still sacked out. "Wendy used up all her magic saving you. She'll probably be asleep until tomorrow morning."

He looked so disappointed that Cana reached over and gave him a very thorough kiss as a consolation prize.

"Later," she murmured.

* * *

Bacchus stayed at the guild overnight, but by the next day Porlyusca pronounced him well enough to go back home to Dogwood. She'd also informed Goldmine, who was not pleased that the strongest mage in his guild had embarrassed himself in front of his old team mates. However, the master of Quattro Cerberus was also grateful that Porlyusca had saved him, and he had told her as much when he came to pick up the fully recovered guild member.

Cana returned with them to Dogwood with them, feeling a bit self conscious still. Goldmine sensed the tension between the two.

"You doing okay?" he asked on the train.

"Yes," both Bacchus and Cana said at the same time. They looked at each other, and then Cana looked away to the outside view of the woods flowing by, smiling slightly.

"We just had a minor bump in the road, that's all," Bacchus said, and placed one hand possessively on her leg.

They returned to his townhouse, and once they were inside the door they immediately started kissing. Cana hadn't felt this at peace in a long time.

"So, what was it you were going to tell me yesterday before I kicked you out the door?" he said when they finally broke apart, a teasing note in his voice.

Cana blushed and looked away. "I love you," she said softly, and then buried her face into his chest. "Even if you are a perverted, over-muscled pig."

* * *

**At this rate, this is going to be the longest fanfic I've ever written... Plenty more to come!**


	14. Strongest Mage in Fiore

**I swear to you that I planned out this chapter before I read 299 yesterday. I swear upon the grave of my ancestors! Nice to know my interpretation of Gildarts' character is dead on.**

**My knee was doing better until this morning, when I had to crawl around on the floor swapping out fancy X-Ray monitors (doing a middle of the floor video card upgrade in about three minutes) and bruised up my knee all over again. I broke three fingernails dealing with a six foot switch rack, too. People don't realize how physical IT work is sometimes.**

**I'm approaching a hundred reviews! I'd hold a contest for the hundredth' review, except then no one would post any reviews until other people got it to 99. (Or you could game the system and, like, go back and review chapters you didn't review and push up the numbers. Or something.) Honestly, I'm not big on reaching review milestones, but it's a great feeling to be get so much positive feedback. So post reviews and how about this - post any fic or pairing requests in your reviews to this chapter (along with the actual chapter review...), and I'll randomly roll my lucky D20 dice and pick one of them as a oneshot challenge once I reach 100 total reviews. Winner will be announced next chapter. I think that's fair.**

**This chapter was written while drinking a cosmo, a grasshopper, and an old-fashioned. Not concurrently. Also, I'm very nearly caught up on the anime, which explains a lot about this chapter.**

* * *

So far, everything had gone according to plan.

That wasn't saying much, considering they were still in phase one. But no one at the restaurant suspected anything was out of the ordinary. Bacchus and Cana were eating dinner – drinks tonight were jaeger bombs, for the energy boost, much to Tony's chagrin – while Erza was eating quietly alone, on the other side of the restaurant floor. In the end they'd also recruited another set of actors, who would be unwilling and unwitting participants to their little hoax.

You see, Erza was playing the role of Lucy. Only a Lucy Heartphilia who had had a sudden stroke of good fortune, and had had her father's wealth restored. This artificial Lucy (played by Erza at her worst) was rumored to have run out and bought the most fabulously expensive jewelry she could afford, and was vacationing in Dogwood this week. One lone little stellar spirit mage, drunk on money and freedom.

The rumors were all false, and Erza was a terrible actress, but the real Lucy was needed at the main house for her part in creating the doppelganger. So Erza had ex-quipped into the most gaudy, tasteless, and horribly expensive dress she had, and had piled on tons of jewelry. Cana assumed it was costume jewelry, but given Erza's ostentatious ways and obsession with clothing, it was hard to tell for sure.

Plan B for "having Erza cause a distraction" was to pretend like she had bad service at the restaurant, but fortunately it turns out that one unlucky set of bandits took the bait.

Cana's eyes bugged out when the trio of spandex clad men burst into the front door of the restaurant, demanding to see the Heartphilia heir so they could rob her.

"Oh Mavis, why'd it have to be them..." Cana groaned. Bacchus raised one eyebrow at the bungling burglars.

"You know them?"

"Unfortunately," Cana said, and knocked back the last of her third jaeger bomb. She was on a caffeine rush that was unlike anything she'd ever experienced before. "Well, I think Erza is going to be happy. Let's watch the show for a bit."

Erza, for her part, was probably seeing red. She carefully laid down her knife and fork, and deliberately smoothed out her expensive dress.

"This was my first time," the redhead said softly, and a glimmer of recognition and fear appeared on the leader of the bandits' face.

"Y-you," he said, pointing a shaky finger at Erza. Erza stood up, and ex-quipped out of her fancy dress over to The Knight, with a dozen angry swords pointed at her foes.

"This was my first time eating filet mignon with a perfectly paired red wine, and you had to ruin it," Erza muttered, and the swords swirled dangerously. The Titania had been unleashed.

"I think we better go get Juno," Cana said loudly, mostly for the benefit of the wait staff. She and Bacchus quietly slipped out the back, offering reassurances that reinforcements would shortly be on the way.

They hurried to the front of the main house, where Gildarts and Lucy were waiting just outside the garden.

"Erza's probably dribbling them like basketballs, so we need to hurry," Cana whispered, and glanced back up to the restaurant on top of the hill. They heard a faint sound of broken dishes, and Bacchus winced. "Once you see Bacchus and Juno headed back up the hill, go ahead and scale the garden walls. I'll try to meet you on the other side of the door." Lucy nodded solemnly, while Gildarts put on his game face. Almost show time.

Cana and Bacchus then scurried to the front door of the house.

"Emergency!" he shouted, barreling into the door. "Dogwood Estates is under attack!" The servants, who had been cleaning the foyer, dropped their mops and rags in astonishment as the heir to the household began bellowing for his parents to come out as soon as they could.

Jove was the first to shuffle down the stairs. "What is all the fuss, my son?" he said, glancing at Cana briefly. "You say the restaurant is under attack?"

Bacchus nodded. "Bandits came after us. Fortunately, we had a friend from Fairy Tail with us and she's holding them off, but we need you and mother to come right away."

"Of course," Jove said, "but your mother is taking a bath. Come, you and I should be enough to take care of any riff-raff."

Cana started panicking. They needed Juno out of the house too. "But-" she began.

Jove cut her off. "Would it trouble you to go upstairs and check on the girls, Miss Alberona? We will send someone back here if we need your aid."

Cana had no choice but to nod grimly and bound up the stairs. Of all the rotten luck...

Because of the peculiar build of the house, halfway buried in the hill as it was, the garden was not quite level with either the first floor or second floor, and Bacchus had explained that both levels had access. The family took up pretty much the entire second floor - several of the younger girls shared bedrooms, but it was still a full house up there. Cana found all the girls lounging around one of the sitting rooms. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found Venus amidst them.

"Hello girls," she said, and her heart nearly melted as she was attacked by a flurry of tiny bodies, all demanding hugs. Venus smiled when she saw Cana, but refrained from joining in the group hug.

Cana took a deep breath. Time to get ready...

"Everyone," she said, trying to sound serious and calm. "There has been an incident up at the restaurant, but your brother and father have gone to take care of it." She stared hard at Venus. "I'd like you to stay here, and I'll take your big sister Venus and we'll protect you."

"Nee-san you're silly," the youngest one, Fides, said with a wide grin. She was missing her front teeth. "We're the ones who have to protect Venus!"

"Yeah!" the older girls chimed in, and then dog-piled their older sister, knocking her down with their enthusiastic hugs.

A cadre of S-Class mages, indeed. The situation was serious; Cana needed to get Venus out to the garden as soon as possible, but she couldn't help but smile as Venus fell over in laughter from her younger, more powerful siblings.

"Okay, I admit it, I just want to steal Venus so I can talk about big girl stuff," Cana said, and reached out her hand to help the older girl stand up.

"Hey, we're big girls too," Vesta muttered. Venus, who had inherited her father's stature, towered over the shorter teenagers by nearly a foot.

"You will be soon anyway," Venus said gently, and ruffled the younger girl's hair.

Cana tugged the princess out of the living area, and pulled her along the hallway to where she knew the staircase was.

"We're going to the garden," was all she said, and Venus nodded, looking strangely calm. She'd been prepared for this, Cana realized, and was reaffirmed in her decision to help the older girl.

They slipped outside the door and into the cool night air. The commotion was still ongoing at the restaurant, and Cana hoped Erza hadn't gone too wild.

"Gildarts?" Cana whispered through the fence. "I have her. Send Lucy on over."

A few moments later there was a rustling from the other side of the fence, and Venus realized too late what their plan was.

"Oh no, you can't, there are alarms-"

And just then, a loud siren started from inside the house.

"Shit," Cana said. "Lucy, hurry up and summon Gemini. We don't have much time."

Lucy fell onto the ground with a thud. "A-te-te-te," she muttered, and rubbed her bottom for a few seconds before she stood up. "Open the gate of the Twins... Gemini!"

The adorable dual avatar appeared, and started dancing around in circles around their master. "Lucy-sama!" they cried joyfully. "You want us to copy her?"

"Yes, just for a little while," Lucy said. "I'll come back to get you as soon as I can."

"All right!" Gemini said, and quickly morphed into a second Venus. Venus looked at her copy in amazement; the ability to create a doppelganger belonged to a select few mages, and only Gemini could create such a perfect one.

Gildarts had joined them on their side of the garden wall, and wasted no time tossing the real Venus over his shoulder. "Cana, you'll have to help get Lucy out," he said.

"Don't worry about me," Lucy said, waving around another key. Two avatars at once was still her normal limit, but she was quite adept at holding those two at the same time now. "Open the gate of the Maiden... Virgo!"

"Is it time for punishment, princess?" Virgo said on cue. For some reason, she was wearing black dress that matched Venus along with her maid hat.

"Punishment?" Venus asked, confused, looking at the pink haired maid from Gildarts' shoulder. She was probably used to being the only "princess" around.

"Don't worry about it," Lucy said quickly. "Get me out of here, Virgo."

"Understood, princess."

And Virgo whisked Lucy underground, leaving Cana and Gemi-Venus alone in the garden.

Cana breathed a sigh of relief. Had they actually managed to pull this scheme off?

"Let's go back inside," Cana said, and pulled Gemi-Venus to the stairs.

Unfortunately, the way upstairs was blocked by a cadre of wide-eyed, S-class little girls. Crap, where had they come from? Had they followed her and Venus...?

"You took nee-chan," little Fides accused, her eyes tearing up. "And this is a fake nee-chan. How could you?"

"No no, it's not that-" Gemi-Venus started protesting, but one of the middle girls pushed her way forward.

"It's no use arguing about it," Diana said flatly. "I saw everything in my mind's eye as soon as you entered our living room. You just kidnapped Venus and replaced her with an imposter!"

Crap, crap, crap.

And then Juno appeared behind the cloud of girls, freshly washed and looking very irritated.

"Who the hell set off the garden alarm?" the most powerful mage in Fiore hollered, and the girls scattered in fear, running back into the house behind their mother. All except Diana.

"We did by accident," Cana improvised quickly. "I had asked Venus to show me the garden, but I didn't realize it was so heavily rigged.

Juno stared at her for a few moments, and then looked at Gemi-Venus, an unreadable expression on her face. She took a few steps toward her, grabbed the young woman's chin, and pulled her face closer, scrutinizing it.

After a few moments, she said, "Who are you, and what have you done with my daughter?"

Gemi-Venus straightened up and smoothed her dress, in a manner that was very much like what Cana had seen the real Venus do.

"I don't know what you're talking about, mother," Gemi-Venus said, her low voice an exact replica of the princess. "Cana and I were just trying to discuss preliminary plans for her wedding." Cana tried not to wince. She had decided to play along with his parent's wedding plans for the sake of the mission, but she had in no way agreed to actually go through with any sort of marriage.

Juno's gaze swung back to Cana, then back to Venus.

"It's a good copy," Juno said finally. "A damned good copy. And I think you're going to have a damned good explanation of why there is a copy standing here and not my real daughter." Juno cracked her knuckles. "But first, I have some ass to kick. I can sense her... not that far away... "

And with those words, Juno flew out of the door, down the stairs, and then kicked herself over the garden wall, propelled by the magic in her feet. Cana was dumbfounded. That was the first time Gemini's clones had been seen through so fast. Lucy was going to be disappointed. And what did Juno mean by "sensing" Venus?

"That didn't go as planned at all," Cana groaned. "I hope Gildarts will be okay..."

"So you WERE in on this!" Diana rounded on her, jabbing her tiny finger in her chest. "Nee-chan, why did you take our sister?"

"And replaced her with this imposter!" Fides charged up her tiny little fist with enough magic to make it glow, and then punched Gemi-Venus in the stomach.

"Wha-?" Gemi-Venus said, and finally poofed out of her disguise to avatar form from the intensity of the blow. Gemini was normally a strong fighter, but the palm magic was too much for her. "Lucy-sama, we're sorry, we failed you..."

Cana watched, astonished, as the celestial avatar was knocked out with one hit from a child barely old enough to read. She looked at Diana, who had her arms crossed in front of her chest. "How did you know that wasn't Venus?"

"Too much magic," Diana said. "Venus is practically a squib. She's the weakest mage in our family. She has too much of our father in her."

The gang of little girls was now circling Cana, and Cana realized suddenly that she was in very, very deep trouble.

"We wanted you to be our sister too," Vesta said. "I was even looking at joining Fairy Tail."

Ceres cracked her knuckles. "But we can't forgive anyone that hurts Venus."

Cana tried to reason with them. "Do you know Venus _wanted_ to leave? She has a husband she's never met on the other side of the world. She asked us to help her!"

"Venus can't defend herself," the one Cana recognized as Minerva said. "She has no battle magic. All she can do is help plants grow strong and healthy, which is less of magic and more of a green thumb."

"She can't even cast Imperial Shell! So mother taught us we had to always protect her. Even from herself!"

Cana was getting seriously angry. "Do you really believe that there's no way for a person without magic to protect themselves? That's unfair."

Diana was unmoved. "Venus can't fight at all. She's too much of a coward."

Cana reached into her purse and grabbed her cards. She had to think of a way to knock out six powerful little martial artists before they could clobber her. She could see them charging up the magic in their hands and legs; she was out of time.

She'd never tried this before, but...

"_Sleep-ga_!" she cried, and threw down her standard Sleep card, along with The World. The idea was that to boost the area of effect of the spell, by expanding it via the most expansive of her cards.

So she was just as astonished as the little girls around her when it _worked._

They fell like flies, crumpling to the ground. She watched them for a few moments to make sure they were still breathing, but they were just fast asleep.

"Hot damn," Cana muttered. "I guess those jaeger bombs really _are_ good for helping you think on your feet."

* * *

Cana ran down the stairs and into the garden, and escaped through the convenient burrow hole Virgo had left behind. Crikes, no wonder the girls had figured it out so fast. Virgo's holes were a giant red flag that someone had just dug an escape tunnel.

The "crisis" at the restaurant had died down when Cana arrived. Erza had tied up their arch enemies, the stupid Jiggly Butts, and was waiting for the Dogwood police to arrive and take them into custody. She'd changed back to her gaudy, over the top fake jewelry, and was charming all the wait staff by pretending to be Lucy again.

Jove and Bacchus were surveying the wreckage of the restaurant. Jove looked stunned at the amount of damage Erza had done in such a short time.

"Well, insurance will cover most of it," Bacchus said, and patted his father's shoulders in consolation. "And the winery itself is fine."

"Bacchus," Cana called, panting a bit. She really did need to exercise more. Cana recited the phrase they'd agreed upon for Juno finding out their plans. "It seems your mother is excited about our wedding."

Jove whipped around and looked at the young woman.

"Wedding?" he asked, and a broad grin split his face. "So you _are_ the one, my dear," he said, and opened his arms for a big hug. "Welcome to the family, my girl!"

Cana and Bacchus were both panicking a little as his father gave her the bear hug to end all bear hugs.

"I have to go find my father," Cana told the old man honestly, and gently pushed him away. "He shouldn't be far. I'll be back as soon as I can." She left Bacchus to deal with the explanations of what her father was doing in Dogwood and why they hadn't yet been introduced.

Without a further word she fled the restaurant, praying she could catch up with them, _hoping_ Gildarts was actually the stronger of the two mages, and that Bacchus was wrong.

She felt their battle auras, rather than saw them. It was an enormous amount of magical power, the likes of which she'd felt very few times in her life.

She watched, astonished, as the two strongest mages in Fiore battled in the middle of the road to Magnolia. Juno was incredibly fast, and Gildarts was incredibly strong. Juno lashed out with lightning fast strikes, and Gildarts absorbed or dodged them, barely moving from his spot on the ground.

"Ha old man! I haven't even had any alcohol yet!" the exiled princess cried. "You're too slow!"

"Old man? I think we're actually around the same age," Gildarts said, scratching his head with one hand while sending a wave of obliteration magic toward her. She nimbly dodged, and he ended up accidentally destroying a section of the forest instead. Typical.

"Shut up! You're a mean old man trying to steal a mother's only pride and joy!" For a moment Juno paused, and Cana saw an expression on her face, fierce and defensive and loyal and kind and terrible all at the same time.

Huh. Juno would have made a fantastic Fairy Tail mage.

"He can't touch her," Cana heard a voice behind her say. "Mother has an impenetrable shield effect, Imperial Shell. It's a magic spell known only by the ruling family of Quon. No magic can land on her. She's pretty much immune to any magic attack."

She turned to see Venus propping up an unconscious Lucy. It seems the latter had bore the initial brunt of Juno's wrath. Cana winced at the extent of the damage. This mission wasn't S-class for nothing.

"So she reflects it?"

Venus shook her head. "She nullifies it."

"You know, you could take this opportunity to continue escaping," Cana told her, and tilted her head down the road to Magnolia. "They seem a bit distracted right now. I can take Lucy."

"I suppose," Venus said, and for the first time, Cana felt a twinge of annoyance with the girl. She was free! Why wasn't she running away with all her might?

"I'm scared," the older girl said, echoing Cana's unspoken thoughts. She set Lucy down, and crouched on the ground beside the knocked out stellar spirit mage. "I'm scared to be alone. I'm scared to run away. I've always been a good girl, I've always done what mother wanted of me. She raised me as a princess, but never let me stretch my wings..."

"Well," Cana said with a shrug, and pulled out her cards again. "Fortunately for you, I've always been a bad girl." She held out the Sun, Moon, Stars, and was glad when the ancient rune she'd primed on them before appeared. "Hey old man!"

Gildarts turned around to see her, and even Juno was momentarily distracted.

"D'ya think you can punch her?" Cana called out, and that was her only warning. "FAIRY GLITTER!"

She threw the three cards in the air, and the enormous fountain of light rained down from the heavens.

"Cana, no!" Gildarts watched, horrified, as his daughter unleashed one of the three holy spells of their guild on the astonished martial artist. "You'll kill her!"

"Naw," Cana said as the light faded. "Her Imperial Shell should protect her from that. But it won't protect her from being temporarily blinded."

Juno was still standing, in fact, her eyes screwed shut. She didn't even have a scratch.

Cana's jaw dropped open. No effect? Freaking Fairy Glitter had _no effect?! _She really was outright immune to magic!

"Hit her now, Gildarts!" Cana screamed, but her father was still too dumbfounded that his daughter had cast Fairy Glitter unaided to even move. He had a ridiculously sappy expression on his face. Oh goodness gracious, now was not the time to be proud Papa Gildarts!

It was too late anyway. Juno was already recovering.

"That was pretty good," Juno said, rubbing her eyes. "Pretty good. Thanks for remembering to hit me with that, I had wondered if my Imperial Shell could take it." And then they all watched as the petite woman broke out a flask from a pocket, and took a shot of what was most certainly Jove's finest magical sake. Her eyes opened again, blazing with a terrible and unearthly glow.

"All right," the woman said, her speech immediately slurring and her arms hanging loosely at her side. "I'll indulge you. My second form." She hiccuped. "I haven't had to do this in years."

And she was attacking Gildarts in a flash before they could blink. Cana watched as her father was unable to block her uneven, relentless blows. No wonder Lucy had gone down quickly – this woman was a monster! Gildarts was taking a beating, and Cana's heart seized as she watched her father defenseless against Juno.

She was out of options. Fairy Glitter had drained most of her magic, and what could she possibly cast to stop the insanely powerful woman before her?

They needed a _physical_ attack, and all Cana was good at was _magic_ attacks. Damn!

She looked down when she heard Lucy stirring.

"Hey, are you okay?" she said, nudging her friend.

"Yeah," Lucy said. "I think she just stunned me. I didn't even see her coming. She's nuts!" Lucy rubbed a large welt on her head where Juno had probably hit her with the side of her hand. Lucy was pretty battered, but nothing appeared to be broken, and Lucy was tougher than she looked.

"Listen, I have a plan. Do you have any magic left at all?"

Lucy nodded. "I've got just enough juice for one more summons. What do you have in mind?"

"That Imperial Shell makes her immune to magic attacks. But otherwise, she just uses the same standard palm and foot magic that Bacchus does, with heightened speed and accuracy. She's still susceptible to physical attacks. Who's your best puncher?"

Cana reached into her purse, but instead of grabbing her cards, she grabbed her own flask of Jove's sake, and downed the shot in one gulp.

Fire raced through her veins. She felt every magical nerve in her body, every muscle fiber awaken. She could have sworn her hair was standing on end.

"What on Earthland...?" Lucy said, her eyes wide as she watched Cana transform much like Juno had. It probably looked like she had absorbed the spirit of Mavis, or something crazy like that.

"Summon now, Lucy!"

Lucy acted immediately. "Open the gate of the Lion! Leo!"

Loke appeared in a blink of magic. He took one look at the battered Lucy, and immediately understood the gravity of the situation.

"Who?" he bit out, slamming his fist into his palm. His implicit question was _"Whose butt do I need to kick for doing this to Lucy?"_

"Loke," Cana said, feeling like a celestial spirit herself, she was overflowing with so much power. "The enemy is immune to magic, but can be momentarily blinded with Fairy Glitter. When I blind her, I need you to assault her. Don't kill her, that's probably going to be my mother in law and I don't want her haunting me from the afterlife."

She heard a commotion behind her – a dozen little feet – and realized that Troupe Little Goddess had probably woken up. Just then, Juno landed a solid KO blow on Gildarts. As before with Bacchus, she took a few moments to crow over her victory, standing on top of her defeated enemy and dancing, before she turned to look squarely at Cana. A shudder seized the card mage, even through her haze of alcohol powered magic. It was now or never.

"Now, Loke! FAIRY GLITTER!"

The spell caught Juno unawares again. She hadn't realize Cana could cast her final move twice. And unlike Gildarts, Loke did not hesitate to land a very solid punch on Juno, knocking her into the air and causing her to fly several feet into the sky, as if in slow motion. Cana winced at the thud of broken flesh; she'd probably dislocated her jaw with that punch.

Another blow to her stomach while she was down, and finally, finally the most powerful mage in Fiore was defeated. All it took was two hits when she wasn't able to dodge.

And that was Fair Tail, in a nutshell. Sometimes magic did the trick, but when it didn't, good old fashioned fisticuffs usually solved the problem.

"Mother!" a half dozen voices called out in horror, and the little goddesses flocked all around her. Cana saw the glow of healing magic from at least one of them, and was surprised at that. She wondered which one it was.

Cana turned around to look behind her, feeling completely exhausted. She was grateful to see Bacchus, Jove, and Erza there as well. The latter had ex-quipped back into her normal clothes.

"When my sisters came to get us at the restaurant, I told father everything," Bacchus said, and stepped forward to hug Cana tightly. She sank into his arms, absorbing his strength. "He understands."

"Frankly, my dear," the old man said, "I didn't think it could be done. Juno has been indulged in every way since she was a child, because she was so strong no one dared defy her. Not me, not anyone, except the Emperor himself."

Loke picked up the woman's unconscious form, and brought it to Jove, who took his wife gently in his arms. The girls watched the sexy celestial spirit in awe - Cana couldn't help but half-laugh at the adoration in the older ones' eyes. Loke had that effect on women.

"I didn't think anyone could take her down," Jove said, and looked down on his wife with a tender expression.

"I'm sorry," Cana said, and nodded gratefully at Loke as he went for her father's body next. He continued to hold the large man, however, as Cana was clearly too battle worn to handle him. Cana wondered if he was operating out of his own gate now, since Lucy was probably about out of magic as well.

"This is all my fault," Venus said, looking tragically beautiful in her sorrow. She twisted her hands uselessly in front of her. "I too was unable to stand up to mother..."

"Venus," her father said firmly, and she looked at him, tears glistening in her eyes. "Were you truly the one who initiated this whole hair-brained scheme?"

Venus looked down at the ground. "Yes. I want to move to Quon. I want to meet Sheng Li. I never told you, father, but we've been sharing letters since I was very young... When I was six, a carrier pigeon brought me a letter from him. That's why I took up gardening. So I could send and received his letters..."

She fell into open sobbing, and Cana did not protest when Bacchus let her go and moved to give Venus a much needed hug. She cried into her older brother's arms, letting out years of pent up frustration of being unable to be with her beloved.

"Very well then," Jove said, holding his wife more closely. "You have my blessing to go to Quon, if that is your heart's desire."

"But... what about Mother?"

Jove half-shrugged. "What of her? She is going to be unable to fight again for some time. She cannot stop you. Go now, child. Go to Harjuan, catch your boat, and go to your husband."

* * *

**Juno was written as a classic Final Fantasy villain, since after all Fairy Tail pulls heavy inspiration from Final Fantasy XI. (Not sure what server Mashima plays on, but I'd love to find that out some day.)**

**And... Super Saiyan Cana. Why not?**


	15. Treasure Ship

**Hi everyone!**

**Not too many entries into the 100th review contest, although a few came in via PM. I rolled a D4 instead of the magic D20. The winner is PhoenixedDragon, who will be getting a GaLe humor oneshot as a prize. Thanks for bringing me over a hundred, and please do post more if you have any feedback or cookies for me!**

**The drink of chapter 15 is _bumbo_, the chosen drink of pirates in the heydey of the high seas. (They preferred it to the Royal Navy's "grog" which didn't taste as good.) It's 1/3 cup raw sugar or brown sugar, 1/3 cup hot water, and 1/3 cup spiced rum, with a pinch of nutmeg and a splash of some citrus juice like lemon or orange. Not for the faint of heart. It could be cut down with water further, but water got so nasty on long voyages that it was usually drunk at the original strength.**

**I'm glad I have had so many of you along for this story, as we reach the 50K word mark. We've still got a lot of drinks to cover - _errrrr_ a lot of story to go, so this is probably going to be novel length before I'm done. Oops.**

* * *

After the battle was over and Jove agreed to let Venus go to Quon, he insisted everyone return back to the house for a good night's sleep. They would give Venus a proper send off tomorrow in Harjuan as a family.

Because of space issues, Cana found herself with Bacchus in his old bedroom. The decor was totally different from his bachelor home - here, the walls were bedecked in red and gold. There was an entire suit of armor hanging in one corner. She explored the walls, fascinated to see the elaborate decorations that had been placed there. Every inch of the room screamed that he was the heir to a noble family - he was someone special to them.

"I hated this room as a kid," Bacchus said, pulling her close on the bed. They were both too exhausted for any hanky-panky and his father had seemed to recognize that when he suggested she stay with him. She had borrowed a nightgown from Venus, who found herself in the position of having to pack for the rest of her life in one night.

"I think it's sort of cool," Cana disagreed.

"You didn't have to sleep with a suit of armor staring at you all night, Wild Thing," he said, and she laughed a little before burying her face into his chest to stifle a huge yawn.

"G'night, ya drunken perverted lech," she said, her tone giving the words meaning more as an endearment.

"And g'night to you, you wild little harridan."

Cana quickly fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

They were both surprised and nervous to find that not only Gildarts, but Juno had awoken the next morning. Their enormous magical generation also sped their healing, and Minerva (the one who turned out to having healing powers) had stayed up late with her mother, mending her jaw and broken ribs. Minerva herself looked rather exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes. Cana made a mental note to nudge the girl toward Fairy Tail - healing magic was a lost art, and Wendy was worth her weight in gold. A second healer in the guild would be priceless.

Juno said nothing at the breakfast table. Her lips were a thin line, and she appeared to be... pouting. It really was the first time she'd ever been defeated in a fair fight.

"So, we'll all go to Harjuan and see Venus off. We'll make a day of it at the port."

This news was exciting to the girls, who evidently didn't get out of Dogwood that much.

None of them had really brought clothes for a second day, except Erza, who was always freshly dressed. Lucy had borrowed an outfit from Virgo and was looking stunning in her Celestial clothes, as usual. Bacchus had his own clothes in his boyhood room, and Cana had borrowed a dress from Venus, who had told her to keep it since she couldn't pack her entire wardrobe in one night. Only Gildarts was still wearing his ratty old cloak and pants, but her father wasn't exactly a fashion conscious person. Still, the maids had insisted they wash his outfit and give him a good bath.

The dress Venus had loaned Cana was quite lovely. To accommodate Cana's taller shape and curvier bust and hips, it was a bit more flowy than Venus's normal sheath dresses, and had a belted waist that left the rest of the material to drape down. Cana felt ridiculously feminine in it, but it was either that or be stuck in the same thing she'd worn during the fight, even if it was clean.

As it was, she noticed Bacchus eyeing her all through breakfast, and made a mental note to investigate other outfits like this. She wasn't much given to feminine touches (her one concession to girly frivolity was her fuzzy purse), but she felt _sexy_ in the dress too, and she was never one to turn down sexy.

* * *

After the meal, Jove gathered them all in the foyer of the house as Juno ran upstairs. Cana felt sorry for her - was she still too upset to even say goodbye to the young woman she'd harbored all these years?

Venus hugged each of her little sisters, and made them all promise to come visit her someday. Then she glanced around the room, clearly thinking about how this would be the last time she saw these walls. But to the young woman who had never left the house, it was not a home, but a prison. Cana saw her square her shoulders in resolution.

Juno came back down the stairs, with a single piece of luggage floating on a lacrima plate behind her.

Cana was not the only one who blinked.

"I'm coming too," Juno said when she reached the bottom of the stairs.

"Mother!" Venus said, startled.

Jove was as stunned any of them. "Dear, you don't have-"

"Yes, I must go," Juno cut him off, putting her tiny hands on her hips and staring directly at her much taller husband. "The terms of ending _our_ exile was that I apologize to my grandfather. What good is letting my oldest daughter go if I'll never be able to see her again?"

Silently, Jove hugged his wife, and Cana felt a tug at her heart - he understood her, better than any of them. Someday she'd like to have a husband like that.

Without thinking about it, she glanced at Bacchus, who was watching his parents with a sappy grin on his face.

"Fairy Tail will be escorting you to Harjuan," Gildarts said, and without being asked grabbed the handle of Juno's luggage. The rest of them had bags belonging to Venus, who had somehow trimmed her outsized wardrobe down to smaller than Erza's usual traveling set - very impressive. "Let's go."

* * *

They rented a private train car to accommodate the mini caravan, and traveled south along the line first to Magnolia, and then down to Harjuan. Venus viewed the world with enormous eyes through the window of the train car, and let out an audible gasp when she saw the sea. Cana agreed; the view of the port of Harjuan was quite impressive the first time.

The train let them off not far from the docks, and the small entourage hauled all the luggage on foot the last half mile down to the ocean.

"They're supposed to have a ship at dock 14," Gildarts said. "That's out near the very end of the pier."

Cana nearly dropped the bag she was carrying when she saw the ship on the end of the pier. It was _enormous!_

"A treasure ship," she heard Jove pronounce. "One of the smaller ones, it appears. The largest of them are not sea worthy and remain confined to the lower rivers."

"That's a _small_ ship?"

The towering wooden vessel dwarfed all the Fioran crafts. Cana didn't know too much about ships, but the monstrosity before her was larger than any she'd ever heard about.

"Why are they called treasure ships?" she asked Bacchus, who shrugged.

"We came across on a normal sailboat. This is my first time seeing one of these too," he reminded her with a grin, and she blushed, having forgotten that he was but a child when he arrived in Fiore.

Juno picked up for him. "They are showy," she explained. "A single ship can hold an entire regiment of soldiers. They are difficult to steer and very expensive to keep up." She looked at the ship, and shook her head. "Grandpa always did do things the silly way."

They traveled toward the docks and onto the pier, where they were greeted with a small honor guard in strange armor with swords, flanking a man who could only be the captain of the ship, judging by his uniform.

"Greetings," he said to the large group, and looked at them each in turn. He nodded when he saw Venus, and glanced over everyone else, although his eyes wandered back to Cana and she had to smirk to herself. He looked so damned familiar for a reason she couldn't place.

"I am Captain Zwang He, great-grandson of the Emperor of Quon." He stepped toward them, and knelt before Venus. "Princess Jia Li, it is an honor to meet you finally."

"Please, call me Venus," she said, gesturing for him to rise. "Sheng Li has told me of you. You are his third cousin, and that would make you our first cousin."

Cana stared at the captain unabashedly, finally placing why he was giving her _déjà vu_. He looked a lot like Bacchus.

"Correct, princess." He turned to Juno, who was dancing on the falls of her feet, either out of nervousness or the urge to punch someone; it was hard to tell. "That would make you my Aunt Lin Hua, and you my uncle..." He turned to Bacchus, and aside from the different hairstyles and clothes, the two men could have been a mirror reflection of each other. Well, not quite, Cana decided. Bacchus was more heavily built and a bit taller. "And you would be Yun Qi."

Bacchus said nothing, but hugged the man tightly. They were around the same age; Cana wondered if they had been childhood companions.

"And who would this lovely vision be?" the captain said, his eyes sweeping over her again, and immediately the two most important men in her life sensed the threat.

"My daughter."

"My woman."

Both Gildarts and Bacchus had thrown and arm over her shoulder, so that she was pressed between them. She could sense them glaring at each other over her head.

"Ah, I see she is spoken for then," Zweng He said, immediately cancelling whatever plans he might have had in her regard.

It was a shame; the invitation in his eyes had been unmistakable, and a few months ago Cana would have gladly accepted it and spent a leisurely few days with a new toy. But she no longer felt the desire to jump into the arms of whatever paramour looked her direction. With the two giant men currently crushing her between their shoulders, why would she need to bother with anyone else?

"You're squishing me!" she complained, and dropped down below them to escape them. They immediately cracked their heads together once she was no longer blocking them, and she felt guilty when she heard bone on bone, but it was their own faults.

"Sorry!" Gildarts said, looking embarrassed. "You know me, Cana-chan. Just don't know my own strength..."

"I'm sorry as well," Bacchus said, and pulled her up. "You know I'd never hurt you intentionally."

She nodded, accepting both their apologies. In the meantime, the captain was going through all the little goddesses, getting introduced to the adorable cousins he'd never before met. They were in total awe of the older man, and Cana had a feeling that some of the teenagers were going to walk away with massive crushes on their cousin the captain.

"Are you prepared to leave, princess?" the captain finally said, turning back to Venus.

She took a fortifying breath. "I am," she said. "And Mother will be coming as well."

The captain glanced sharply at Juno, who stared at him defiantly, daring him to tell her she was not welcome.

"Very well," the captain agreed finally, an interesting expression on his face. Cana had a sudden flash of insight - he'd been warned that Juno might tag along, and was not too surprised. "Are any others coming on board?"

Then Gildarts stunned Cana when he said, out of nowhere, "I am." It was her turn to glance sharply at her father. At her nonplussed expression, he just shrugged. "The mission is not complete until Venus is safely returned to Quon. And I've always wanted to travel there."

Cana resisted the urge to roll her eyes. There went his wanderlust again. Thank Mavis she wasn't cursed with those urges.

"That is reasonable," the captain said. "The Emperor will receive you and give you your compensation for arranging this, although he might not be too thrilled to have Lin Hua." He raised his eyebrow at his aunt.

"Juno," the older woman corrected, ignoring the slight. The feud between herself and her grandfather was the stuff of legends, after all. "My name is now Juno." Her tone indicated that no dissent would be tolerated.

"Understood, Aunt Juno." He gave one more sweep of the group. "Is that all? A small party for a princess."

"I'll go," Bacchus said, and now it was _his_ turn to be on the receiving end of Cana's distressed look. He took it in stride, and simply bopped his finger on her nose. "How does a vacation on the ther side of the world sound, Wild Thing?"

She looked rapidly between her father and her boyfriend, her mouth open but no words coming out. She hadn't _planned_ on such a long trip. She wasn't prepared at all. She didn't even have a change of clothes!

But... maybe a small part of her father was inside her after all, because the thought of traveling to exotic shores was suddenly heavenly. Part of the thrill of being a professional mage was adventure beckoning you to travel beyond your comfort zone.

"I'll go as well," she said,

And so, Cana found herself whisked aboard the treasure ship, setting sail for the distant locale of Quon, without anything more than the clothes on her back and her purse.

* * *

They set sail within a few hours. Cana stood on the deck with her father, Bacchus, and Juno, and waved to the rest of the Du family, who would stay behind. Some of the little goddesses still had school, and Jove had to deal with the wreckage of the restaurant. Erza and Lucy had declined the invitation; they felt the need to return back to the guild for other obligations. Cana felt strange as she saw the coast of Fiore fade into the horizon. She had never left the country before. She didn't even have a passport, although the captain said it would probably be all right since she was practically family.

Well, that was how _they_ viewed her, anyway.

Most of the crew members did not speak Fioran, and Cana felt a little out of place as everyone, including the Du family, slipped into the sing-song Quonese. Even Gildarts knew a few words; he knew just enough of most languages to woo women and generally get himself in trouble. The Quon Empire was enormous and there were apparently hundreds of regional dialects, but everyone spoke a central language that was mutually understood, and this was what she heard around her. Bacchus happily translated for her, although his mother made no bones about correcting the grammar of him or his sister whenever they made a mistake in translation.

The giant ship had some rather nice state rooms, and the princess was given a suite to herself. The Emperor had sent along some servants for her already, and Venus settled into the pampered life without raising a single delicate eyebrow.

Cana, too, was given a maid, the only one of the group that spoke Fioran, a young girl named Bik. She had a precious accent that almost caused her to whistle the words in her second language, and she was as dismayed as Cana had been when she learned that her temporary mistress had no clothing with her.

"Sorry," Cana said apologetically. "I didn't even know I was coming, or else I would have stopped at my apartment to pack." She'd also never had a _maid_ before, and the whole idea was going to take some getting used to.

"Do not worry," Bik said, and patted her on the arm. "I will ask the princess if she may loan you some of the dresses we brought for her."

Cana poked around while the girl dashed off to confer with her coworkers. Her room on the ship was a lot smaller than the princess's room, but she didn't mind, because she was just the girlfriend of the brother of the princess, and a commoner in all circles but the magic guilds. There was a narrow bed (she rather hoped Bacchus had one that could fit them both), a dresser, and a night stand. Bik slept down the hallway in the maid's quarters with the other three girls.

There was also a full length mirror, and Cana viewed herself. The flowing gown did look good on her; it accented her hips and her tiny waist. But her Fairy Tail guild mark was not visible, and some part of her felt naked without being able to see it, in a sort of opposite way.

"Great, now I'm getting the urge to strip like Gray," she muttered, and forced herself to turn away from the mirror.

There was a timid knock on the door, and Cana opened it to reveal Bik carrying a towering pile of fabric. More girly dresses. "Success!" she chimed, and Cana looked at the girl and sighed. This was going to be a long, long boat ride.

* * *

If they had clear weather, it would take them ten days to travel from Harjuan to Quon, skirting around the southern coastline of the continent. So the crew and passengers settled in for a long ride.

"Hey Wild Thing," Bacchus said, getting another eyeful of her in her latest borrowed dress. "I have just the thing to cheer you up."

She had joined him at the captain's dinner table. They were the first to arrive, but the rest of the princess's "party" would be there soon.

She sat down gently on one of the hand carved chairs that lined the ornate table, and Bacchus slid a steaming mug in her direction. She sniffed it, and her eyes watered - hot alcohol! She also detected notes of spices, sugar, and citrus.

"It's called bumbo," Bacchus said, and took a big swig of his own mug. "Pretty strong. It's a traditional sailer's drink; before they had lacrima water purifiers, the water would get nasty on long trips. So they invented this to hide it."

Cana took a tentative sip. It was strong, and sickly sweet. She grimaced. "Yeah, I can see how that would hide the taste of tepid water."

The rest of the family trickled in, and the captain as well. Venus was seated next to Cana, and the card mage had to admit she was impressed by the princess's appearance. Her hair was piled into ropes and circles, with hundreds of gold beads threaded throughout. Diamonds lined her face in a pattern that incorporated her exile mark without appearing ostentatious. Those three maids had worked hard, and Cana really did feel as though she was sitting next to royalty.

But the older girl just smiled at her... no, she realized, Venus had _grinned_ at her - and Cana felt the feeling slip away. Nope, not royalty. Just Venus.

"You know," she murmured in a low voice towards the princess, "you and I actually have a lot in common."

"Oh?" Venus said, intrigued.

"We're both total cowards sometimes," Cana said, and grinned back. "And yet, we somehow muddle through despite ourselves."

Venus glanced shyly down at the table. "I was scared before, but now that we're here, I'm not afraid any more." She held out her hand slightly, as if reaching for something. "For the first time in my life, I feel I can reach out and grab my destiny."

* * *

Ship life quickly turned routine for Cana. She loved it, actually - there wasn't much to do, so everyone just sat around drinking all the time. There was the bumbo, as well as something called grog (which wasn't as tasty as the bumbo), and plentiful beer and wine and sake. She recognized the red characters on the barrels of sake as not being a brand so much as it was the Du family crest. It was the same one that accented Bacchus's apartment and was all over his family's home.

She joined him at the railing of the top deck one afternoon, as he stared tipsily over the walls of the ship to see endless waves behind, the southern edge of the continent barely visible on the edge of the horizon.

"Jewel for your thoughts?" she murmured, and slipped her around around him in a behind-cuddle.

"It's strange, to suddenly be traveling back to the land of my birth." He turned around within her embrace, so that she was pressed up against him in a more conventional hug. "To be honest, I never thought I'd see it again."

"What do you remember?"

He stroked her hair. "The mountains. The streams. The gardens." He leaned down and smelled her hair, which had been scented by something flowery, thanks to Bik. "The smells. The food. The people. And yet," he continued, kissing lightly along her ear, "Fiore is home to me. I'm glad I'll be able to visit Quon, but I don't want to move there."

"Oh, I don't know," Cana teased. "What if _I_ fall in love with the place?"

"Wherever you go, I will follow, Wild Thing."

So this is love, Cana thought as he kissed her passionately. No matter what happened, you were content just to be with that person.

* * *

Cana loaned her talents to the navigators and warned them to sail southward as they approached the capital of Quon, as her cards showed there was probably some nasty weather along their planned route. The detour cost them an extra day of travel, but no one on board complained. Better to be at sea one more day than to be lost at sea forever.

That last evening, evening after dinner, Cana lounged on one of the deck chairs under the overhang of the gallery deck, sipping a drink and trying not to doze off. The enforced inactivity of the trip was finally starting to make her cranky. Gildarts had been climbing the walls for days. They would all be grateful to be back on land.

She was surprised when Juno approached her, her hands on her slender hips, staring down at her.

"You look awfully relaxed," the older woman observed.

"Trust me, I wish I wasn't," Cana said, and sat up a bit. "I'm getting a little cabin fever."

"Slovenly." Juno poked Cana's flat stomach. "Are you pregnant?"

Cana nearly spit out her drink. "_No!_ Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

"Because you ought to be," Juno said firmly. "I'd already had my first son when I was your age. And then I had eight more children. Eight!" Juno eyed her critically. "Look at those hips. Child bearing hips! I'm putting in an order for ten grand babies right now."

"Bacchus and I aren't even engaged," Cana argued, trying not to panic over the subject of her empty womb.

"Another thing you need to correct!" Her expression softened. "He's _chosen_ you, Miss Alberona. You were aware that like the rest of us, he was married as a child?"

Cana nodded, her quibbles dying on her tongue.

"She died. He never even got to meet her. That is my mother's family way. But we will only marry off our children once..." She dropped down into the lounge chair next to Cana, preparing for a long talk. "After that, they are free to choose their own husband or wife, so long as they choose wisely." She gripped the edge of the chair. "If my son had chosen someone I disapproved, I would have let him know right away. And so, never before has he brought a girl home to meet us... because he knew that none of us would approve of the normal group he hangs out with."

Cana thought of the few ladies of Quattro Cerberus - some of them were as manly as the guys - and then wondered about the kind of women Bacchus dated before her. What made _her_ so damn special?

"You're strong. I like you," Juno said, and poked Cana's stomach once more. "Still, the grand babies. Get started on it as soon as you can."

She left Cana sitting there, rather dumbfounded over the whole conversation.

The thought of having children was one that used to terrify her. But the idea of having a family... a real family... maybe it wasn't so bad. Gildarts would be the most doting grandfather on the planet.

She patted her own stomach thoughtfully.

Just... not yet.

* * *

They finally approached the capital city of Quon, and the amount of activity on the giant ship quickly increased. Cana smiled as Bik began panicking, since Cana had no luggage to hold all her borrowed clothing. The young maid finally managed to procure some from the crew members, and Cana's temporary wardrobe was packed up as well.

They all stood at the rail, watching the city gradually grow closer. It was a large city, bigger than Magnolia but smaller than Crocus, yet somehow richer and more ornate than both of them. Cana liked the feel of it.

The ship slowly groaned its way into the port, and Cana found herself arranged next to Bacchus in what felt like an impromptu parade. Venus was at the head of their formation, escorted by her cousin the captain and flanked by the honor guards, followed by her mother who was dressed much more finely than usual. For all the time Cana had known her, she'd never seen Juno wear a dress. And her she was, in one of the ridiculously feminine outfits belted at the hips, with long floppy sleeves that ran well over her hands, and her hair pulled into a fancy style instead of its usual dual cloth-covered buns.

Cana herself and Bacchus had not escaped unscathed either, and were decked out in the best borrowed outfits they could scrounge up on the ship. Even Gildarts had been prettied up, his ragged cloak packed away and replaced with a black and gold velvet cape. He stood at Juno's side, taking his role of guardian of Venus and Juno seriously.

Cana held Bacchus's hand, unashamed of the public display of affection as always. She squeezed his hand as they started to process down the gangplank, partly to reassure him, and partly to reassure herself.

Their carefully rehearsed procession fell to pieces when Venus spotted her husband, Sheng Li, waiting for her at the end of the pier.

The princess broke into a hobbled run in her tight shoes, and practically leaped into his arms, where he spun her around and kissed her soundly.

The others stopped, bemused at how easily Venus had ignored the proper ceremony. Maybe she did have an independent streak in her like her mother after all.

Sheng Li was not at all as Cana expected him to appear. He was shorter than Venus by several inches, and looked softer and more portly than the princess.

"So that's him?" Cana murmured to Bacchus. She felt almost... disappointed. Prince Charming was neither princely or charming.

"He's a nice guy, or so I've heard," Bacchus said. "And he loved Venus enough to defy his great-grandfather and keep in contact with her for fifteen years."

The four outsiders watched as the crowds around the dock cheered on the newly reunited royal couple. Bacchus and Cana walked up to join Juno and Gildarts. Juno was wiping away tears, and even Gildarts looked a little misty eyed.

"Is he first in line for the throne?" Cana inquired, still curious about the man who was now waving joyfully at the cheering masses while he embraced his wife.

Juno shook her head. "His grandfather is still alive. His father... well," Juno leaned closer to them, and whispered, "He couldn't hold his alcohol. The famous tolerance of the royal family somehow skipped him... he committed suicide when Sheng Li was only six."

Cana instantly felt a pang of empathy for the heir apparent. It hurt so much to lose a parent that young.

"Come on, let's go join them," Juno said, and they followed her down the gangplank without question. "The city will probably be partying for the next couple of weeks."

They were stopped at the end by members of the honor guard, who held out their swords.

"The exiles are not permitted to enter," one said sharply in Fioran.

"Grandfather's orders, I bet," Juno said bitterly. "All right - you can tell him that if he wants his apology, he has to come down and get me in person then."

The guards glanced at each other, their expressions sharing an entire silent conversation.

"Or you can let me through, and I can go apologize to the emperor in person. That was the condition for my release from exile, after all." She crossed her arms stubbornly, suddenly looking every inch like the royal family member she was.

Zweng He had returned to the small group when he saw the trouble, and corroborated her story. "Lian Hu speaks the truth. She may step foot on shore if her express purpose is to apologize to the Emperor."

"Very well," the guard said, and they both lifted their swords. "But we will personally escort you."

Cana found herself squeezing Bacchus' hand even harder. What if the Emperor refused to accept her apology?

She looked up at the man she loved, and he looked sober and solemn as they walked toward the palanquins that would take them to the palace.


	16. Reunion

**Very sorry for the delay! Graduate school + flurry of real life activities + illness = minimal writing time. And right now I'm on vacation in Savannah. The next month and a half is pretty relaxed, however, aside from Halloween stuff. **

**In the meantime, thanks for all the reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

In addition to the heir apparent, they had been greeted with a large number of carriages and soldiers who were to escort them to the palace. Cana drank in everything with wide eyes; the city was enormous but beautiful. She was seated in a carriage with her father, Bacchus, his mother, and the captain, whereas Venus and Sheng Li were in a hand carried palanquin just before them, and the rest of the crew and servants were in plainer carriages behind them. Her father had taken the opportunity for a nap and was dozing in his seat, on the other side of Bacchus. Juno and the captain were across from them, in a seat facing them.

Cana had learned over the journey that Bik was no mere employee of the palace, but was actually something called a "lady in waiting" for the newly arrived princess, along with the other three girls, and was of noble birth herself, albeit many ranks down the ladder from the princess. Apparently, the childhood marriages were not always practiced among the lower nobility, and she had been sent to the court in the hopes of finding a good husband. Another one of the girls was in the same position as Bacchus; her husband had died when she had been just a baby, and she was free to choose her own. Such a different world than the one she had grown up in.

Eying the captain in front of her, Cana wondered if he was a free agent, and if so, if the girls were going to try to snare him. It was so much harder to tell marital statuses on the men here since no one wore wedding rings. If there was some other cultural clue, Cana could not tell. Maybe the unmarried ones wore more colorful clothing? Maybe the hair?

They continued through the city, passing through a series of ornate gates. Each one seemed to mark a deeper, more secretive part of the palace.

"You are lucky," the captain said, as they passed through a giant yellow gate that had rows and rows of guards around it. "Normally, foreigners are not permitted past this gate. But the emperor has made an exception for the mercenaries who rescued his great grand daughter."

Juno pursed her lips and stared out the window, pouting. She was still annoyed at losing. Cana also turned away, to hide her smile of amusement.

Bacchus opened his mouth as if to say something, but then quickly closed it again, another thoughtful expression on his face.

"Everything is so detailed," Cana said, staring in wonder at the ancient buildings. "I've never seen such careful architecture."

The captain looked pleased. "We are in the Hidden City now," he explained. "This is the center of the Quon Empire. All governance takes places within the walls of this courtyard, and of course, the Emperor and his family live here as well."

"Did you...?" Cana asked, looking at Bacchus curiously. He shook his head no.

"Remember, we're officially part of the Du family. Our estate isn't far from the Hidden City, but it's not inside the walls. I've only been in this part of the city a few times."

"Nor do I live here," Zweng He added. "The He estate is also outside the walls. But really, my home is the open sea." He shifted his legs into a more relaxed position. "I'm not even the oldest son, so I won't inherit the land, nor the title. I had to make my own way." He looked off, a dreamy expression on his face. "Someday, I'll be the Grand Admiral of the Imperial navy."

Bacchus whistled, impressed. "Good luck with that, cousin. That's a pretty wild and crazy ambition."

Zweng He shrugged. "Not all of us are the only son," he said, although there was no jealousy in his voice. It seemed he had accepted his lot in life and made peace with it. Bacchus said nothing either, but stared out of the carriage, an unreadable expression on his face.

The carriage finally stopped, and they had to wait while the palanquin in front of them was first emptied of its royal passengers. Once the prince and princess were safely inside, the guards came to their carriage and began unloading them. Juno was helped out first, then the captain, then Bacchus, and finally Gildarts and herself. She was ranked last in this little group, it seemed, but she didn't mind all that much. She was just a mage from another country, after all.

They were led down a golden carpet to the interior of a building. Cana had to let her eyes adjust for a few moments, before she found herself surrounded by more young girls, probably ladies in waiting like Bik. They were all well dressed and pretty, and they descended upon Cana like a fragrant cloud.

"Come this way," one of them said, tugging at her. "We are here to refresh you before your audience with the emperor."

And so Cana and Juno alike were dragged through a side hallway toward an entirely different building.

"What I'm wearing is fine," Cana protested as they started to pull off her borrowed dress.

"Oh no, it's not suitable at all," another girl said. "You're much too tall for it."

"Can I put in request, then?" Cana said, giving up the fight as she was attacked by more eager girls, each of them a head shorter than her.

"Yes of course. Lavender fabric? Emeralds?" the leader of the girls said hopefully.

Cana shook her head ruefully. "Actually, is there any way I can get a pair of pants? I'm tired of wearing these damn dresses."

* * *

About an hour later, Cana was fully dressed, carefully made up, and wearing the aforementioned emeralds in her ears. She had won her major battle, however, and was sporting a lovely pair of slender silk breeches in a rich purple, with gold piping up the sides, and a sleeveless tunic to match. Once she'd been offered the outfit, she had consented to let the girls do whatever else they wanted. As a result, her hair had been twisted up into a dozen loops and draped with lavender, green, and gold ribbons. She supposed she was attractive to them, but when she saw herself in a mirror she did not agree with the look at all.

"I feel like a peacock," she complained to Bacchus when she was reunited with him outside of the dressing chambers.

"You look sexy," Bacchus said with his usual grin, and made a point of looking at her rear. "No peacock feathers there, just the same nice ass as always."

She swatted at him good naturedly. He was also dressed up even further than before, but the wretch looked totally at home in the finery of his native land. Gildarts had steadfastly refused to take off his armor, however, and the only concession to cleanliness seems to have been that he was shaved completely.

"You could have played along," she said to her father, eying the velvet cloak that was already getting rumpled from constant wear. In a few weeks it was likely to be as tattered as his old one. "I did."

"I'm not a girl," her father said smugly, but his eyes twinkled to let her know he was teasing. "I don't have to get all primped up like my baby girl does." He pretended to swoon at her.

Cana was nonetheless nonplussed. "That's not something to even joke about!" she hissed angrily, and she would have kicked him to the sky were they not in a foreign country about to meet the emperor inside a royal palace. Her father just laughed, and she scowled furiously in his direction, vowing revenge once they were back in Fiore.

Once the rest of the small group rejoined them, they were put back into the same order they had been when they were to exit the boat. Venus and Sheng Li led the procession, followed by Gildarts, then Juno and the Captain, and finally Cana and Bacchus. Cana assumed this was related to the order by which they'd have their audience with the king.

They waited a while longer, and then they all entered the audience chamber together.

Cana was shocked to see hundreds of people sitting down on the ground. They were all well dressed, and many of them wore funny hats. None of them faced the emperor near the back of the chamber, instead facing each other across the central aisle. Only the first two rows faced the front, although they craned their heads as the group walked down the aisle.

The emperor was a very old man, feeble but dignified in appearance. His throne was on a raised dais with many steps, and he wore enough clothing to make movement impractical. It was all for show; Cana realized. There was no way someone could actually govern like this. Probably all the real decisions took place behind closed doors, where the men and women in the court could converse freely.

That much heartened her; there seemed to be a fairly equal number of both genders for ministers. While their views on marriage were barbaric by Fiore's standards, this culture seemed otherwise fairly enlightened about women in leadership roles.

They were directed to kneel before the emperor. Venus and Sheng Li both bowed deeply in front of him, their foreheads touching the ground.

The emperor said something to them, and they stood up. Bik began translating into her ear, and a scholar quickly hurried to begin translating for Gildarts as well.

"He says that he is grateful to see his great grand children reunited, and hopes that they will enjoy many years of happiness together. The entire country will have a feast and celebration for the next three days, at which point Venus and Sheng Li will recite their adult vows to each other."

"Adult vows?"

"Ah, for children's marriages it is an affirmation that the chosen match was a good one," Bacchus said, grinning at her confusion. "Not all couples go through with adult vows, although it's lucky to do so. If a childhood marriage goes sour, once they are adults they may choose to part ways."

"Oh, like a divorce?"

"Almost exactly like one, although there is a certain amount of shame to it." He shrugged. "The sense is always that they should have tried harder. But some people are just incompatible."

The emperor was still speaking, and Bik told her he was lecturing them on the importance of maintaining the family line, and how he really wanted to see a great great grandchild before he succumbed to mortality and passed the throne along to his son.

Finally, Venus and Sheng Li were excused. They stepped to the side of the great hall, and knelt down like all the ministers around them. Venus really did look at home here; for all the sheltering her mother had done, she'd trained her up properly in the ways of this country's court.

Gildarts stepped forward into the empty space. To Cana's surprise, the Emperor addressed him directly in halting, but grammatically accurate Fioran.

"I would give greetings to the mercenary from Fiore," the emperor said, and Gildarts knelt before the emperor, also touching his forehead to the ground as he had apparently been directed. He sat up again, sitting cross legged in a gesture that was achingly familiar to Cana.

"Your greetings are accepted and welcomed," Gildarts replied in a similar formal pattern.

"Thank you for bringing Jiu Li du Ming back to us," the old man said, and for a moment he was not a mighty emperor, but simply a tired old man, expressing his heartfelt appreciation to someone who had done him a great favor. "Had we been more aware of how the mercenary system in Fiore worked, we might have asked for assistance earlier."

"My guild, Fairy Tail, will be happy to assist His Majesty at any time," Gildarts said easily.

"We will remember this in the future. Your reward will be provided to you by my treasury. But our nation owes you a great debt that cannot be paid with money alone; you may ask us for help at any time as well."

With that, Gildarts was dismissed, and Juno was brought a bit more rudely to face her grandfather. She dropped into a kow-tow, and kept her face on the ground, waiting for the pending admonishment.

"Lin Hua," he said, and his expression hardened. He dropped back into Quonese, and Bik resumed translating for Cana. "Your actions for the last twenty years have brought shame to your House, and to the royal family. You have kept our country's future empress from her husband, and from our land, delaying the birth of their children. And you defied me for far too long. What do you have to say for your crimes?"

This was the moment of truth.

"I'm sorry," came the muffled apology, no doubt delivered through gritted teeth.

The emperor's expression softened.

"Rise, Princess of Quon."

Juno raised her head to face her grandfather, her eyes wet with tears at her humiliation, but her back straight with her unbending pride.

"Lin Hua," he said again, his voice a bit more tender now. "What could cause you to throw away your pride and come back here?"

She looked down at the carpet then. "I was defeated in combat," she admitted, scowling.

A collective gasp rose up around the throne room. Cana and Bacchus shared a bemused look together.

"I guess that's unusual, eh?" Cana asked him.

"There's a reason the Ming family is the rulers of Quon," Bacchus said.

"How could someone break Imperial Shell?!" the emperor said, half rising from his throne. "Our most ancient protection can never be dissolved!"

"It wasn't," Juno reassured him. But then she pointed at Cana, and suddenly the card mage felt the eyes of the entire court on her. She tried not to panic as Bik quickly translated for her. "The fiance of my son has found a weakness with Imperial Shell, and exploited it to her advantage."

"I see," the emperor said, staring thoughtfully at Cana, and settling back down on his chair again. Damn, he is incredibly old, Cana thought. She could have sworn she saw dust flake off him as he sat. "Well, if she is marrying into the Du family, then it should be all right."

"You know, I never agreed to marry you," Cana muttered to Bacchus. He just grinned at her wolfishly.

"Don't worry, Wild Thing. I told you they'd just assume 'cuz I brought you home."

"But," and here Cana felt the urge to match his grin with one of her own, "you haven't _asked_ me, either."

Before he could reply to that, the emperor began speaking rapidly again.

"Per the terms of our bargain, as you have apologized for your rash actions twenty years ago, I hereby lift the banishment of the Du family." He waved his hand, and Cana watched, fascinated, as the pebbly tattoos below Bacchus's eyes began to fade out and then disappear. She glanced over at Juno and Venus, and their markings were fading as well. She wondered if Jove back in Fiore was now free as well.

"I am grateful for the benevolence of the emperor," Juno said, and the defiant grand daughter was now replaced with a tired, middle aged woman, who had gone toe to to with the most powerful man in her country... and by some measure, won the war despite losing this final battle, since she had raised her oldest daughter on her own terms for the last twenty years.

Juno was escorted to the side where Venus and Sheng Li sat, and she reached out and embraced her daughter. A family saga had finally come to a close.

"Yon Qi Du, and the lady from Fiore," the herald called, and Bacchus and Cana stepped forward, Bik gracefully stepping off to the side.

"Your name, young lady?" the emperor asked kindly.

"Cana Alberona," she said, squaring her shoulders.

"I shall remember the name of the one who knows the weakness of Imperial Shell," the emperor said firmly. Then, his rheumy eyes twinkling, he joke, "You're not a general in the Fioran army, are you?"

Cana smiled back at him. She'd always liked older men. They made the best drinking buddies. "No, Your Majesty. Just another mage from Fairy Tail."

"No, not just another one. You are the first person to have defeated a member of the royal household in three hundred years. Wear that as a badge of honor, young lady. When may we expect your nuptials?"

Cana glanced at Bacchus again. She just didn't have the heart to tell the emperor they weren't really engaged.

"We haven't set a date," she said cryptically.

"Why not get married here in Quon?" the Emperor pressed. "I'm sure the Du family would adore having their male line heir married while Lord Du is still alive."

"We will consider it," Bacchus said, sharing another look with Cana. "But for now, we do not wish to take any joy away from Venus or Sheng Li."

"Fair enough," then Emperor said, and then clapped his hands three times and stood. Cana felt her heart squeeze by the amount of effort it took for the old man to stand. He was clearly not well, even if he did still have his wits about him.

The court all stood up as well, and the emperor switch back to Quonese. Bik hurried forward to translate for Cana.

"There will be three days of feasting and celebration, for both princesses have come home to us," he said again. "Open up the grain stores, and make sure every citizen in the capital has food and drink. Recall all the noble families and tell the provincial governors to open their palaces."

The hall erupted into spontaneous cheers.

* * *

It turns out that it was surprisingly easy to slip away from a raucous royal party. Gildarts was surrounded by dozens of ladies in waiting and was in his happy place, as they all fawned over the valiant mercenary (who happened to be a fairly powerful single male, to boot.) Juno was catching up with her brothers and sisters, and meeting nieces and grand nieces for the first time since her exile. Now that her public humiliation was over, she was being treated as a returning prodigal daughter, and not as a traitor who had been exiled for two decades.

Bacchus had asked for a runner to be sent to the Du estate, informing them of his arrival. He wanted to take her there tomorrow, to meet his grandfather, but for now he had plucked Cana free of the party and taken her to a beautiful park inside the palace grounds.

"Too many people," he explained. "I'd rather be alone with you."

He had pilfered a basket of food and wine from the party, and asked a servant for a blanket. Then they had explored the palace grounds, finally setting on a little island inside an artificial lake that they had to reach by rowboat.

It was beautiful here, but everything felt fake, Cana decided. It was all for show, all designed to look as beautiful and natural as it could, but its very construction laid bare its artificiality.

They settled on perfectly manicured grass, under a perfectly sculpted tree, leaving them in sun dappled shade as they munched on the treats created for the celebration party. Naturally, they each had their own bottles of wine. Some things will never change.

"Not bad," Cana said, enjoying the flavor of the fermented grapes as it rolled over her tongue. "A good fragrant bouquet, but a sharp nose and a nice robust body, with a velvety finish." Her initial assessment of the wine over, she took a hearty swig.

"Now you sound like Tony," Bacchus teased. "Although he'd probably detect 'undertones of cherries and currants, with a chocolate flavor in the finish.'" His imitation of the sommelier's voice was almost dead on, and Cana had to laugh as well.

"He's a good friend, isn't he?" Cana asked, not meaning to pry but also wanting to know about the man beside her. Getting him to open up was hard, and her best bet was unguarded moments like this one.

"Yes," Bacchus said, and took another swig of wine himself. "His father is our executive chef. Like me, he grew up around the vineyards, and it was my father who noticed he had the talent for the grapes. He's really my father's apprentice, in much the same way I am my mother's successor in combat."

He actually looked sad as he talked about that, and Cana's senses prickled. There was something else going on underneath the surface, here.

"Let me do another reading for you," she said suddenly.

Idly, she reached into her purse and pulled out her cards, taking a bite out of a dumpling with one hand while she arranged six cards for a basic reading. It had been long enough and circumstances had changed so much since her last reading for him, she wanted to see what his new state was.

She flipped the first card over.

"Justice," she said, touching the card. "You feel that things are going the way they are meant to be, and that anything that happens is justified in the cosmic scale of things." She grinned at him slyly. "You're also happy with your current partnership."

"Of course, wild thing," he said, and tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear.

In response, she reached up and tugged the ribbons out of her hair, unbinding it, letting it flow freely behind her. She discreetly zapped her hair with one of the few magic spells every budding lady mage learned as a child - instant magic conditioner. Every female in every guild used it; some of the men, like Fried, did as well. Long hair and hard battles didn't mix, but a quiet zap with that charm and your hair was instantly de-tangled.

"Ah," she said in relief as she ran her fingers through it.

"Better?" Bacchus asked her, grinning, and then joining her in running her fingers through the freed locks.

"A hell of a lot better. I hate feeling so hog-tied. "

"I prefer you wild and free, myself," he agreed.

Cana flipped the next card, revealing The World again. This time it was upright, and in the second slot it held a much different shade of meaning than it had during his last reading. "You are hoping for all the justice from the first card to also turn into a happy ending for yourself," she said, and patted the card. It was an indication of yearning.

"And now, your fears." She hesitated, a sense of dread rolling over her.

Death.

Bacchus looked away, his jolly expression dropping. They were both silent for a moment.

"The emperor is dying, you know," he said.

Cana had suspected as much. "He is a very old man. No magic in the world can keep you alive forever."

"He's a hundred and ten," Bacchus said with a sigh. "Now that Venus is home, I'm afraid he's going to fade away..."

"Well, the card doesn't always mean an actual death," she explained. "It can also mean an end of a phase of life - which, you have to admit, just happened to you." She reached up and touched the place under his eyes where the exile tattoo had been before. "Many things are going to change for you and your family, and it's all right to be a bit scared of that."

Cana almost didn't want to go on. But she had never failed to complete a reading. Next card...

"The Magician." She fingered this card, which held special meaning for mages. "If you are given an opportunity, you should take it." The next card was Judgment. "In this position, after the Magician, the card means that you will lose out if you don't take the chances that are given to you."

The final card was also a repeat of his last reading, The Hierophant. Here, it represented the final outcome.

The card that represented a dominant male figure. As an outcome, it represented accepting tradition, taking responsibility, and in essence assuming the dominant role.

Finally she understood.

"You don't think you're a worth heir of the Du family," she said, and touched his hand. "And it's not the emperor whom you fear dying. It's your own father. And his father."

"You're really good at this mind reading stuff, Wild Thing," he said sadly, and cupped her cheek. "Really, it's all of them dying. My mother taught me how to fight, not how to run a business. Someone like Tony should be the one inheriting Dogwood Estates. Someone like Venus or Vesta should have the Du family title. Someone else should -"

Cana cut him off with a gentle kiss. He took the hint and shut up. She tried to tell him without words that she felt he was worthy, that she believed he should accept his legacy even if he wasn't the best wine grower or sake brewer.

With a sigh she broke the kiss, and touched her cheek to his, pulling him into a half-hug.

"Tony can always be the manager of the estate," she said softly. "But _you_ are the one who is destined to inherit the title and the land. Just like Zwang He accepted his fate and decided to do his own thing, so too should you accept your fate." She sighed. "If you keep waiting until the moment you feel 'worthy' to do something that needs to be done, you'll just keep putting it off... until it's too late."

"Marry me, Cana."

The proposal was so sudden that she blinked, not quite comprehending. She pulled back from the half-hug to look him in the eyes again.

"I mean it, for real," he said, and the melancholy expression from before was replaced with naked yearning, an expression she hadn't seen on him before unless there was a beer in visual range. "I'm too chicken to do this whole 'accept my destiny' thing on my own. But I think I could do it, with you cheering me on."

"As a wife?"

"No, as my food taster," he teased, and kissed her impatiently. "Of course as my wife. I mean, I don't want to pressure you into this just because my family wants it, too."

She grinned at him. "But that doesn't hurt, either."

"No," he admitted. "But I love you. I told you on our first date that I was looking to find a wife, and settle down."

"So I'm it then?"

"I'll never find someone as precious as you." He tackled her and started gently tickling her, causing her to laugh and swat him away. "Or who likes drinking as much as I do."

"You got that right," she said with a smirk."

"Marry me," he demanded, and kissed her deeply before she could say yes or no.

When she finally escaped for air, she gasped and then tickled him back a bit in revenge.

"All right," she agreed, wondering if the recommendation of the Magician card was for her, not for him. "I'll marry you, on one condition. Or two."

"Oh? Conditions?" He quirked his eyebrow in the way she had grown to love, and she smoothed out the jagged arch on his forehead, wondering if their children would inherit that particular family trait.

She sat back up, and spoke in a serious tone. "Just two, really. One, we can't stay here in Quon. My home is Fiore."

"Aye, same for me," he agreed. "My grandfather is going to have to accept that much. Dogwood is all I've really known for my adult life."

"And two," she said, taking a deep breath, "I can't leave Fairy Tail."

At that, he stared at her, as if the thought had never even occurred to him. "Why would I make you leave Fairy Tail?"

"I dunno," she said with a shrug. "I'm just saying that I ain't budging. If you're the heir of the Du family, then I'm the heir of Gildarts." She looked away, remembering what Goldmine had told her. "I may even end up Guild Master someday."

"So it goes," he said, and then attacked her again with a growl. "Probably best if we don't work together on missions anyway. Romance and missions never works out."

That much she knew firsthand, having seen the messes that Juvia and Gray, and Lucy and Natsu had gotten themselves into when they mixed love and work. Levy had had the good sense to stick with team Shadow Gear even after she started dating Gajeel, although she went on easy missions with him for weekend vacations. For serious career mages, though, it was never a good idea to work and play too closely with one's lover.

"Then it's a deal?" she asked, as his kisses grew more heated. "And are you really sure we should be doing this in the middle of the palace grounds?"

"No one can see us," he said with an amused growl against her neck as he began working on the buttons to her shirt. "And yes, it's a deal. You stay in Fairy Tail, I stay in Quattro Cerberus, and our kids can fight over which guild they join when they grow up."

"Mmmm," she said. Coherent thought was leaving her as he managed to get her shirt off, exposing the ridiculous lacy underthings the ladies in waiting had dropped on her earlier. "Your mother wants ten grandchildren. But how many kids do _we_ want?"

"As many as you want, and no more," he answered, and slipped one strap off her shoulder.

Cana thought of her own lack of parental guidance as a child. Would she be a good mother? Could she be? "Let's start with one and go from there, then."

"How about we 'start' on that one right now, Wild Thing?"

"Bacchus, really!"

They spent the rest of the afternoon on that island, celebrating life together to forget, for some time, about death always looming on the horizon.

Little did they know how close it was looming.


	17. Traditions

**Author's Note: Very sorry for the delay on this chapter. I thought November was going to be a month of relaxation, but then I was foolish and attempted NaNoWriMo again this year. That was a mistake! I have a much better time writing in discrete chapter chunks than I do aiming for a specific word count. **

**Add to that, and my linkshell of almost eight years had a meltdown. (A linkshell is pretty much a guild in Final Fantasy XI.) As the "guildmaster" I was caught in the middle of all the drama llama. The two factions split, and I'm still friends with everyone, but half the group isn't talking to the other half of the group any more. Nothing saps your motivation to do anything more than your dearest friends fighting with each other.**

**So, I made the decision to drop NaNo, and all the stress of the last few weeks is suddenly much lighter.**

**Oh, and I had a birthday too. I'm, uh, old enough to be a lot of y'alls mum now. o_o**

* * *

That evening, Cana and Bacchus stumbled their way back into the palace. The party was already winding down for the night, and to Cana, it felt just like Fairy Tail after a really good celebration. Bodies everywhere, and a vague sense of general destruction in too many places. They picked their way across the floor of one of the grand hallways, asking one of the few people who hadn't passed out where the guest rooms were.

A fresh basket of food and a barrel of sake, and they had their own private party for the rest of the night.

* * *

She woke up the next morning curled up against his chest. Mmmm, she thought, stifling a yawn, a girl could get used to waking up just like this. She took the opportunity to study him. He was so peaceful looking in his sleep, like most strong men. Still, he bore faint traces of his ever-present grin, even if the worry lines around his eyes were a bit more relaxed.

She was going to miss the pebbly tattoos a little. He looked younger without them. He still had his crazy eyebrows though; a natural family trait, she had learned, and most true blooded Du family members had them to one degree or another. None of the little sisters seemed to have them, thankfully, but his father's eyebrows had been similarly zagged, although quite a bit bushier.

With a contented sigh, she leaned back on her pillow, thinking about the crazy events of the last few weeks. Hell, the last few months even. Somehow, she'd gotten engaged to a man she'd sworn to hate for the rest of her life. Well, now she really did know what Levy felt like.

She touched her hand to her stomach, remembering Juno's crazy demand for grandchildren. The concept of motherhood, something that would have terrified her not even six months ago, didn't seem so scary any more. She'd have to give up drinking, though, at least temporarily. She wrinkled her nose at the thought. Her greatest pleasure in life besides the cards. But, perhaps having a passel of adorable little girls like the Mini Goddesses could make it worth it.

She felt him stir next to her, and she scooted away to give him room to stretch and yawn. But he was having none of that, and instead pulled her closer into a cuddle.

"Morning, Wild Thing," he murmured, briefly kissing her temple.

"Good morning to you, too," she replied, and felt a tendril of desire as his kisses traveled down her neck.

Well, there were worse ways to wake up in the morning.

* * *

Later on, freshly bathed and fed, they tiptoed out of the palace's main campus, the Hidden City, and began walking down the street toward the Du family estate. Cana had learned that the capital city here was built like an onion - layers of walls, forming sectors with distinct populations. The Hidden City was surrounded by the rest of them, with successively higher walls until the final yellow gates were almost thirty feet tall.

The Du estate was only one layer outside of the castle, like most of the high noble families, but the compound within those giant walls was enormous, so that meant a surprisingly substantial hike for the two of them.

"Most people don't walk here, at least not the nobles," Bacchus explained, referring to the horse-drawn palanquins and, more rarely, the human-powered ones. They had to duck off to the side several times as the vehicles passed them by. "What's funny to me is that it's not actually any faster than just walking. The horses here go at a slow pace because of all the congestion, and a vehicle carried by eight people walking is inherently slower than if that one person walked on his own."

"Did your mother walk?" Cana asked, knowing the answer already. Juno likely hated the conveyances around them.

"Of course." He lifted his eyes to the sky, and smiled at the memories. "She ran down the streets, dragging me along with her, sticking her tongue out at all the slowpokes."

Cana laughed at the image of a princess, toddler son in tow, barreling through the streets, not caring what anyone thought. She was beginning to love Juno, for all her stubborn pride and the iron grip she held on her household. She was unconventional, in what appeared to be full on defiance of a thoroughly conventional society.

It was a little under a mile from the Hidden City to what Cana presumed was the Du estate. She felt her jaw drop open when she saw the mansion in front of her, and stopped in her tracks, once again astonished by the family residence of the man beside her.

"This is your family's house?" she said incredulously, point to the mini palace in front of them. The buildings were just as decorated as they had been in the Hidden City, only in patterns of red and black instead of the yellow tones.

"Well, yes," he said, smirking at her and crossing his arms. "The Dus are one of the five high noble families of Quon."

She vaguely remembered Levy telling her as much months ago, but it hadn't really sunk in. She suddenly remembered when she had visited Lucy's old house - the Heartfilia estate had been enormous, and her Lucy had said her father had owned the surrounded hundred square miles of land as well. The Du estate was considerably smaller, at least the portion here in town, but instead of being concentrated into a single mansion, it was made up of a dozen small, ornate buildings surrounding one larger palace. The grounds were filled with trees and flowers, with a winding stream in the middle.

"It's a plantation," she said, taking in the formal gardens of the front yard, and the carefully tended vegetable gardens off to one side. "This place could basically be self sufficient."

"Well, not quite," Bacchus said, tugging her forward. "Most of the estates inside the capital are like this one. Our actual plantations, if you will, are in the territory just to the south of the capital."

She raised one eyebrow, knowing that this was what he had grown up with, but still miffed that she hadn't been told just how _big_ this place was going to be. "This makes your family's house in Fiore look like a cottage."

"I guess it is bigger than I remember," he said thoughtfully. He took into the large lawn as they walked down a central stone lined path toward the main house. As they approached, one of two enormous doors in the front opened, and a wrinkled face peered out to see who had the audacity to walk to the main entrance.

A quick blanch of recognition washed over the face in the door, and then it disappeared and the door shut.

"Hah, that was Miss Chun, the head housekeeper. Or maybe she's been promoted to butler now."

The doors slowly opened, and a small entourage stood there. Cana saw a stately older man - not as old as the emperor, but quite aged compared Bacchus, the man in his prime who stood next to her. A similarly aged woman, well dressed, stood beside him, as well as a very beautiful young lady.

"That'd be my grandparents," Bacchus said, his grin melting into a more genuine smile.

The girl, upon seeing Bacchus smile at them, also burst into a smile and started running at them in a most unladylike manner.

"Yuon Qi!" she cried, and threw herself at him before he could stop her. Instinctively, he caught the girl in a hug, but his expression of puzzlement made Cana's eyebrows narrow. At first, she'd assumed this must be another cousin or some such, but now she wasn't so sure.

"Who are you?" Bacchus asked in Quonese, confused. Cana was beginning to pick up more of the rhythm of the language, and the simple inquiry phrase was easy enough.

She was spared further translation efforts when the girl switched to Fioran. "Silly! It's me, Rui!" Her Fioran was perfect, without a trace of the lispy accent that Bik couldn't quite shake.

Comprehension rolled across his face and he answered in kind. "Why, look at you! You were just a toddler the last time I saw you!"

Cana felt her hackles rise as the girl gave Bacchus a big wet kiss on his cheek. "I knew you'd come back!"

Bacchus, probably sensing the menacing aura coming from his fiance, set the girl down and gave her a pat on the head. "So I did," he said. To Cana, he gestured an introduction. "Cana, this is Wang Rui, the older sister of the girl I was to marry long ago... Mia, who died."

"It should have been me!" Rui said, huffing a little. Cana's eyes narrowed. Obviously, the girl had designs on the prodigal grandson.

"What, you should have died?" she said dryly, earning her a sidelong glance and a knowing grin from Bacchus at the deliberate misinterpretation.

"Her family owns several of the rice fields adjacent to our own, and we brew their rice into sake along with our own., Rui, this is Cana Alberona, the strongest mage in Fiore."

"I wish you'd quit calling me that," Cana said, and swatted him affectionately before holding out her hand, offering a shake to the other girl. Much like Venus, Rui hesitated before taking her hand.

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," Cana said, letting her scowl lift up into a challenging smirk and squeezing Rui's hand just a bit too hard.

Rui immediately yanked her hand back. "Strong indeed," she said with a murmur, rubbing her fingers.

Cana took another look at her. She was about the same age as Venus, or maybe as Cana herself. So round about twenty. She was dressed more simply than the courtiers at the palace had been, but Cana had a feeling that was due to practicality and not something to be interpreted as a status symbol, as her clothing was still rich and her tightly bound hair was sporting several costly ornaments all the same. She was not as stunning as Venus - no one on the planet could approach the princess's beauty - but she exuded a raw vitality that made her very pretty nonetheless.

Despite the girl's easily bruised hand, Cana would guess her to be a fighter.

Bacchus's grandparents had approached them during the little handshake exchange, and first his grandmother, then his grandfather embraced him, the latter rather stiffly. He was tall, much like his son and grandson, and wore the clothing of the court. He had a short, wispy beard, and his hands sported several expensive looking rings.

"Welcome home, my grandson," he said in Quonese, and Cana had to sigh as the language became too complex for her to understand.

"Don't speak Quonese?" Rui said, giving Cana a knowing elbow.

"I'll learn fast enough," Cana grumbled. "It's just a matter of learning which words use which tones. Is it 'hello', or is it 'a fish?'"

Rui laughed, a harsh sound that grated on Cana's ears. "Quonese takes years to master." She stopped laughing suddenly. "Not that Fioran is much better. I've been practicing for almost ten years."

"I guess whatever you grow up with is easy. Your Fioran is almost perfect, though," she said, a bit grudgingly. "If I had only heard you, I'd have pinned you as a resident of Crocus."

Something his grandfather said, while gesturing to Rui, made Bacchus's face freeze. He immediately began waving his hands in denial. The two girls watched as the conversation switched to a full fledged argument, that ended suddenly when Bacchus switched back to Fioran.

"But Cana is my fiance!" he said, and gestured to the card mage, who blinked at the look of anguish on his face.

"What?!" Rui shrieked, and stepped away from Cana as if she'd grown snakes out of her head.

His grandfather suddenly acknowledged Cana for the first time, glancing her over, as if unsure what to think. Cana stood up taller, taking full advantage of the height difference she had over the much more petite Rui.

Bacchus recovered. "Grandfather, this is Cana Alberona. Her father, Gildarts Clive, is the mercenary that rescued the Princess Jia Li from my parents... from my mother."

"Impressive," his grandfather said, pulling on his beard and staring intently at Cana. His grandmother, on the other hand, had retreated behind her husband, clearly rattled by this turn of events. Cana was beginning to catch on.

"So, they wanted you to marry Rui, eh?" she asked Bacchus.

"In defiance of all the traditions," Bacchus confirmed, glaring at his grandfather.

"It was just a suggestion," the old man said defensively. "We had not been informed of your impending nuptials."

"A suggestion?!" Rui exclaimed. "Our families both wish for an alliance!"

"And our families have no say in it, since your sister passed away when she was two." Bacchus shook his head. "I made my decision to marry a while ago, and Wild Thing - Cana - has finally come around as well."

Now it was Cana's turn to glare at him. "Well, you _could_ have asked me earlier," she said testily.

He patted her on the shoulder. "I knew you weren't ready yet, sweetie."

However, Rui wasn't prepared to accept the sudden circumstance change just yet. She came up to Cana, and stabbed her finger into the taller girl's chest. "I challenge you!" she said, her eyes flashing. "To a magic battle."

Cana raised an eyebrow. "Did you hear Bacchus just call me the strongest mage in Fiore? I even know how to defeat Imperial Shell."

That elicited a gasp from the two elders, who knew how powerful the Imperial family's secret defenses were.

"Cana, you don't have to do this," Bacchus said, glancing between the two girls, who were now staring firmly at each other.

"She doesn't have to, but she will," Rui said, her eyes narrowed.

Cana reached into her purse and pulled out a handful of cards. "You're right," she said, and then looked to Bacchus, her expression softening a bit. "Didn't the cards just tell you to embrace challenges as they arose? I think it's advice that's good for me as well."

He sighed and his shoulders slumped, a funny gesture on such a powerful man. "This challenge has to be non binding, though. I'm well within my rights to marry whoever I damn well please."

"I warn you, I'm strong," Rui said, and then reached into one of her sleeves and pulled out a few tiny vials, echoing Cana's gesture with her cards. The vials were filled with colored liquids. Perfumes?

"I'm the strongest Shot Mage in all of Quon."

Cana felt her own eyebrows shoot up once she realized what was in the vials - not perfumes like Ichiya used, but different flavors of... alcohol.

"Oh ho," she said, suddenly really excited about the fight. "This is going to be interesting after all."

* * *

**I made the decision to split this chapter into two parts - the fight should be its own thing. That, and I don't go any longer without at least a _small_ update.**


	18. Shot Mage

**Whew, now I'm glad I split these up. This section is a normal size chapter by itself. And hooray, I've hit the 50 favorite milestone! Thanks to everyone who reviews, favorites, or otherwise interacts with this story via the website. I'm writing this story for myself, but it's also good to know that I'm bringing enjoyment to others, too.**

* * *

Cana surveyed the lawn, feeling an eerie echo of Bacchus's fight with Gildarts not so long ago. His grandparents had brought out the household staff to act as witnesses to the fight, and they were settled upon the lawn, waiting politely. At least none of them had popcorn, Cana thought wryly.

The two combatants were preparing in any way they felt necessary, while Lord Du ran over the rules of the match. Alcohol was permitted - Cana had requested a jar of sake for her own use, and Rui's magic relied on it - and they were to stop before any serious injuries occurred. If the other party was injured accidentally, the opposing party was to stop attacking until the severity of the injury could be assessed. The injured party could, however, choose to continue attacking if the injury was not serious enough to stop them. Otherwise, they would fight until a clear victor could be determined, or one party ran out of magic - or was knocked out during the course of the fight.

"I'm not sure this is such a good idea," Bacchus warned her again as she stretched. Cana's fighting style sometimes required physical movement, like most of the mages of Fairy Tail. Even Lucy had taken Erza's advice and was now trying to work out to improve her speed and stamina, and Levy had been training with Gajeel since the S-class exams where they were partnered together.

"What, you don't trust me?" Cana teased, popping her shoulder blade in and out of place to loosen up her range of motion. Bacchus winced at the display of flexibility.

"It's not that, Wild Thing" Bacchus said, crossing his arms. "Shot Magic is not something used in Fiore. I'm not even that familiar with it, myself." He scratched his head, thoughtfully. "But I know that you have to pass the equivalent of MUI 4 to be considered a master, and I have no doubt she is as strong as a master."

"Another MUI 4, eh?" Cana glanced at the bottle of sake on the ground. "That just makes me want to beat her while sober."

"Huh?" Bacchus looked astonished at the thought. "But you're so much stronger with alcohol!"

Cana shrugged. "I've got to learn to do magic without the aid of the juice," she said, tossing a card up into the air. She decided to tease him a little. "I can't drink any alcohol if we're going to have a baby."

Bacchus's eyes bugged out. "Are... are you pregnant?!"

She tried to keep a straight face, but quickly burst out laughing at the terrified expression on his face. "No, ya perv. Not as far as I know, anyway, and that's no thanks to you." She got control of herself with a deep breath. "But it can't hurt to get used to doing magic while sober, unless you want to follow me around on every Fairy Tail mission I do when we _do_ have kids."

She did one final check of her cards, and verified the layout of the lawn. She wasn't practically an S-Class mage for nothing. She had a vague inkling of a strategy, but the actual tactics would require watching Rui in action for a few minutes.

There was a large central grassy area, and the perimiter was lined with giant trees. The stream she'd noted when they first came in that morning ended in a large koi pond, not far from the house. The formal gardens and the vegetable gardens were both set off to the side, and would likely not get in the way. The only danger was the central gravel walkway that led from the street to the house – the lawn was so huge, the walkway stretched nearly a thousand feet, by her eyes, and it was lined with tall rocks, effectively splitting the lawn in two, except for two perpendicular cross paths that separated the lawn into sections. They were fighting on an empty grassy square, one square away from the koi pond.

Once it appeared that both girls were ready, Lord Du clapped his hands, calling everyone to attention.

"We have before us today a visiting fighter from the country of Fiore, Cana Alberona, who is considered one of the strongest mages in her land. She has agreed to fight our Wang Rui, the reigning Shot Magic champion of Quon." He spoke in Quonese, but then repeated the words in his heavily accented Fioran.

The audience, which had grown considerably from the household staff to include various interested pedestrians from the street, clapped politely. Cana saw several palanquins parked in front of the walkway – she did like how casual everyone was here. They felt safe. Quon was, at least on appearances, a more stable country than Fiore these days.

"They are fighting for the right of marriage to Yuon Qi Di, my grandson."

Cana heard Bacchus mutter an expletive somewhere in the background, and smiled to herself. Well, if she had anything to do with it, traditions wouldn't even be a factor in who married him.

Rui had changed from her pretty dress over to one of the silken pajama outfits that the little goddesses and Juno wore. Cana's own outfight from the palace was not quite as loose, although it covered more skin than she was used to. After a moment's hesitation, Cana grabbed the bottom of her silk shirt, and quickly tied it into a knot just underneath her bust, exposing her midriff and her Fairy Tail mark proudly for the world to see.

Ah, _much_ better.

Everyone but Bacchus gawked at her - he instead laughed heartily and waggled his eyebrows in approval.

"The match will begin on my mark," Lord Du said, raising one hand with a small bottle of sake in it. "When the bottle breaks in sacrifice to the gods, you may attack."

He hefted the bottle over his head, and then brought it crashing down onto the decorate rock wall.

Can grinned at her opponent. It was show time.

Rui started out by grabbing a red flask and tipping the contents into her mouth. Cana paused to watch her, admiring her technique. She'd never seen anyone look so damn _elegant_ while tipping back a shot.

The elegance quickly disappeared and was replaced by her game face.

"Fire Dragon's Breath!" Rui cried, and Cana watched in astonishment as the "shot mage" used a spell she'd previously only seen done by Natsu. Cana leaped out of the flames, annoyed when a cinder landed on her legs and burned a perfect, tiny hole into her pretty silk pants.

"Dammit, I wanted to keep this outfit," Cana complained, and decided to go on the offensive herself. Would Sleep land?

"Card Magic: Sleep," Cana called, holding the card towards Rui and letting the magic from the spell seep toward her. Rui blinked heavifor a second, but managed to fight off the spell before it could take full effect.

"Oh, nice sleep attempt," Rui said, shaking her head. "You forgot that alcohol is a poison, however, and will wake me right up from a magical sleep right away."

"It seems you know your stuff, Wang Rui," Cana said, impressed. "Not even my own guild members know the secret of resisting Sleep spells." Well, Mystogan had known, which is why he tended to come early in the day before anyone had seriously started drinking yet besides herself. She played along, pretending to sleep, knowing he wanted to remain invisible.

"You're quite skilled in your own right, Cana Alberona. Sleep is a tough spell to master." Rui took another flask from her sleeve, a purple one this time, and slammed down the shot more aggressively this time, wiping her mouth with her sleeve.

"Lightning bolts!" Electricity shot from Rui's fingertips, and she managed to catch Cana.

"Ugh!" Cana cried, the electricity pinning her down, hurting her, and making it extremely hard to move. But Rui wasn't the only mage in this fight who knew her elemental alignments.

Cana managed to flick a card near Rui's feet, and activated it with her magic from afar. The card responded to it's master's wishes instantly.

"Prayer's Fountain!"

The card immediately began spewing forth holy water. Rui found herself standing in a puddle very fast, and her own electricity spell went haywire. She had to stop the jagged bolts of lightning, and Cana fell free while Rui hurried moved to dry land again and tossed off her shoes, leaving her in nothing but socks. The holy water had burned through her leather slippers as if it was acid.

Can landed on the ground with a soft thump, her hair feeling really frizzy and her joints sore. "Bleah, reminds me of Laxus," she said, and rubbed her elbow.

Rui managed to change elements again. Cana suspected that each shot was only worth one strong spell; Rui replenished her magic to full with each dose of alcohol. She knocked back a brown liquid this time, which Cana guessed was probably rum, and held out her hands. "Earth magic: Disintegration!"

"...The hell?" Cana dodged the spell, almost identical to the one her father used, just in time. "What's the deal, chick?" Cana yelled. "Did you really steal every single magic spell you use from Fairy Tail?"

"Eh?" Rui stopped her spell, looking genuinely surprised. "I read the book."

Cana heard her own voice drop twenty degrees. "What book?"

"The Fairy Tail Book of Elemental Magic. It came out several years ago. It's quite good."

Cana drooped onto the ground, landing hard on her bum, utterly flabbergasted. Which one of her guild mates had written _that_ book?

"It's by a famous reporter named Jason Thompson. I'm surprised you haven't heard of it, being from Fiore and all."

Ah, _that _explained everything. Master Marakov was not going to be pleased with the Sorcerer Weekly reporter if he ever found out. Guilds guarded their magic jealously. Cana pointedly framed her guild mark with her hands, emphasizing the distinctive running bird-fairy on her flat stomach. She widened her eyes and pointed her chin at the mark a few times, waiting for Rui to take the hint.

Rui blinked, glancing at the guild mark, finally recognizing the tattoo for what it was. "Wait a minute... _you're_ a mage of Fairy Tail?!"

"Welcome to the conversation," Cana said through gritted teeth. "I guess Jason neglected to put Card Magic in his book of 'elements', since it hasn't really got an elemental alignment."

Rui seemed at a loss for a moment, but she shook her head and snapped herself back to the present. She tipped back another shot of rum, and then pointed one finger at Cana as if it was a weapon. Well, so long as the Shot Mage could toss off a Disintegration without breaking a sweat, her finger was more powerful than Erza's hundred swords.

"Well, Mage of Fairy Tail. Are we still fighting, or do you concede our battle?" Rui prodded.

With a crooked smile, Cana stood up again. She dusted the grass off her bottom, carefully, deliberately.

"No book can prepare you for a battle against a _real_ Fairy Tail mage."

Rui held her arms out for another Disintegration. "So over confident, Card Mage. Earth Magic: Disintegration!"

Cana was ready, and dodged the attack in time. She was slower than she needed to be, though, and she felt the heel of one of her shoes get caught and break off. Instead of landing gracefully, she ended up listing off to one side and nearly breaking her ankle. _Shit. _With a sigh, she kicked off both heels, leaving her barefoot.

"Are you trying to strip me or something?" she muttered. At this rate, she was going to be fighting naked before they were done.

"Stoneskin!" Rui built an earth barrier around herself, obviously waiting for a recharge for another big spell.

No mud walls were a match for Cana. "Wind cards." She threw a handful of her generic cards toward the barrier, and they quickly tore through it, exposing the Shot Mage.

Rui was ready. "Wind it is!" she said, and took a shot of a green liquid.

This fight was going nowhere, fast. Cana realized she was going to have to do something unconventional, or else they were going to be out here for hours. She glanced toward the sake, remembering her earlier inkling of a strategy. Rui tended to dodge to the left. She just needed to get Rui about ten feet over there, and...

"Card explosion!" Cana tossed a handful of cards to the right of Rui, and sure enough, the shot mage dodged left.

Cana grabbed the flash of sake. Instead of taking a swig, she ran forward, catching Rui off guard, and dumped the alcohol on top of the girl's head, drenching her from head to toe. Cana stood next to her, rather amused by her stunned expression.

"What- what the hell?" Rui cried, sputtering.

Cana dropped the sake jug on the ground and casually reached into her purse. "I don't know a lot about Shot Magic, but I _do _know a lot about alcohol. I think I just locked your element for a while." Cana stuck one hand on her hip and watched the Shot Mage quiver with rage. "Your magic relies on alcohol to give it a boost, like a good MUI Level 4, but you also change your elements based on the flavor of the alcohol. I wonder what element sake is...?" She pretended to think, drawing her hand with a fistful of cards under her chin. "Oh, but it doesn't look like we're going to find out. Fire Bullet Cards!"

Cana's final attack was flicking three cards at point blank range to the other girl, and then leaping out of the way as the sake caught on fire, engulfing the Shot Mage in a roar of flames.

A collective gasp was heard around the yard. Cana, per the rules of the tournament, could not attack while her opponent was "seriously injured." But if the girl would just dodge to the left, into the damn koi pond, she could put herself out instantly.

But Rui continued to burn, screaming for help, unable to move in her terror. No one dared approach her as her alcoholic shots began to explode one by one, sending glass shrapnel and burning liquid flying into the air.

Cana sighed. "Mavis, you're one stupid gal," she muttered to herself.

She took a tackling dive toward the human torch, knocking them both into the koi pond.

They both popped to the surface, Rui gasping for air. As Cana expected, the element of Sake was "sky" or "light" – Rui's clothing was pretty singed, but she had suffered no serious injuries, as the element had protected her from harm. It had been a gamble, but Cana was almost _always_ right when it came to alcohol.

"I deliberately maneuvered you next to the pond," Cana scolded. "And you _always_ dodge to the left. Why didn't you jump in?"

Rui stared at her - oh dear, it looked as though the sake hadn't protected her hair. Or her eyebrows.

"That was a dirty trick," she said finally, watching as Cana climbed her way out of the pond, shaking the excess water off her legs like a dog.

"Nothin' in the rules said I had to use the sake on myself," Cana said, and then reached down to offer Rui a hand out of the pond.

Rui took it, finally conceding her loss.

Their audience clapped politely, pleased at the final show of sportsmanship between the two young women.

"I have one last show for you," Cana said to all of them, and then eyed an innocent looking tree off to one side with no people around it. "This is why Bacchus calls me the strongest mage in Fiore."

She pulled out the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars.

_"Fairy Glitter!"_

If anything, the explosion this time was brighter and more powerful than ever before. Once the glare cleared away, all that remained of the poor tree was a stump, surrounded by ash that gently fell to the ground like gray snow.

Rui gaped at the tree, her face frozen. "You were holding back the entire time?"

"Not really," Cana admitted. "That spell is my final attack." She smiled, a little sheepish. "It's an amazing trick, but I can only use it once. I'm totally out of magic now."

She held her hands limply in front of her to demonstrate; the effects of magic overuse without the boost from alcohol caused her fingers to tremble.

By now, the servants had begun to mobilize. and the drenched girls were escorted in to hot baths and a fresh change of clothes before dinner.

* * *

Rui's hair had to be cut short.

Cana felt a little guilty on seeing the Shot Mage's newly cropped 'do, but considering that Rui was the one that initiated the challenge... she didn't feel _too _guilty. Losing a couple of feet of hair was nothing compared to the blow Rui's pride had suffered that day. Her singed eyebrows had been filled in with kohl and looked relatively normal.

"I like it," Cana said truthfully, ruffling the pixie cut. "One of our guild members, Lisanna, has her hair like this."

They were both clean and dressed, sitting in the main parlor of the Du estate while they waited for additional dinner guests to arrive to celebrate what was now going to be an engagement dinner. Cana had won the seat next to Bacchus on the couch as her most immediate prize. They were surrounded by nobles from families that Cana didn't recognize, and most of them spoke in Quonese, leaving Cana out of the conversation for the most part. Bacchus translated the highlights for her.

She had been put in another stupid frilly dress, but this one was at least properly fitted to her height.

Bacchus, for his part, had a huge smug grin on his face, and Cana had a feeling it wasn't going to leave him for days. He was extremely proud of her.

His grandmother entered the room after a while, holding a small box with her. She called everyone to attention.

"So, I understand you are formally engaged," she said in a lisping Fioran, standing before Bacchus. "And yet, I see no ring on her finger. Is that not the Fioran tradition, Bacchus?"

Cana sat up a little straighter.

"It is, Grandmother," Bacchus said, looking uncomfortable, although his grin got wider all the same. "We haven't had time to go ring shopping yet."

"Well," the old lady said, and patted him on the head, "I think I can probably save you the trouble."

She gave him the small box, and he opened it, one of his zaggy eyebrows lifting in surprise.

"Now dearie, it's not for you," she said gently. "Give it to your lovely girl there. She is going to become a Du, and she has more than proven her worth this day."

"Oh! Oh! Get down on one knee!" Rui said, sounding excited, but it could have just as well been sarcasm, considering the source. Bacchus ignored her.

"Marry me, Cana Alberona," he repeated softly, and tilted the box to show her the ring his grandmother had given him.

"Oh..."

It was nothing like a Fioran engagement ring. It was a single, perfectly round black opal cabochon, surrounded by a series of white opals cut out to make the entire thing look like a black and white sunflower. Despite its design, it wasn't too garish in size, and Cana breathed a sigh of relief when it slipped onto her finger perfectly.

"It's beautiful," she said, her throat cracking a little.

She realized then that by marrying Bacchus, she was not only going to get a hunky drunk husband, but she was going to get a grandmother for the very first time.

Tears falling from her face, she stood up and embraced his grandmother, holding onto the old lady as if she was her own flesh and blood.

"I never knew what I was missing." she said, and sniffed. "Now I know, and now I have you all to call my own."

Lady Du patted her on the back. "There now, little one." She called her this, although Cana towered over her by nearly a foot. "I will be happy to count a strong fighter like yourself among our family. Welcome, Cana."

* * *

Gildarts, Juno, and Zweng He had been fetched from the main palace's party for dinner. When the captain came into the parlor, Cana saw a peculiar expression on Rui's face. It wasn't cold or calculating, nor was it the smirk she'd grown used to seeing on the shot mage's face. Rather, it was a gentle expression.

The gears in Cana's head whirred and clicked, and she touched the cards in her purse to confirm her thoughts.

Rui was _really_ in love with Zweng He.

She had said that "their families" wanted a union between the Wangs and Dus – her parents no doubt wanted her to marry Bacchus, so that the family estates could merge and their own grandchildren would become nobles. But what did Rui want?

The captain spoke to her politely, and ruffled her new short haircut. Rui smiled and laughed at him, and Cana felt her heart squeeze in empathy for the girl.

Well, now that Bacchus was out of the equation, maybe she'd be free to pursue the captain with her parent's blessing.

She sensed someone approaching behind her, and turned to see her father. "Papa heard about Cana's victory," Gildarts said, swaying over her drunkenly. He'd clearly been living it up in the palace all day, and was well into his cups.

She stuck out her hand smartly so that her father could see her new ring. "Not just a victory, Papa," she said smugly. "Your baby girl is getting married."

His happy expression dropped for a second, and he looked as though he'd seen a ghost.

"Officially?" he croaked.

"You better believe it's official." She glanced down at the ring herself, resisting the urge to play with the costly thing.

Proud Papa Gildarts quickly turned into Sad Papa Gildarts. "I knew he was going to take you away from me," he sobbed into his arm. "I just _knew_ it."

"Gildarts, I'm not goin' anywhere!" she grumbled at him, once again regretting that they were indoors and she couldn't kick him into the stratosphere.

"That's a family heirloom, it is," Juno said, appearing from nowhere and eyeing the ring Cana still had proffered critically. "Part of a set of flower rings – all the women who become engaged to the Dus get one. They're at least three hundred years old." She stuck her own hand out, showing off a slender band of pink and green gold, with petals and leaves fashioned to look like cherry blossoms. Blood red pearls centered each of the three flowers. "I like mine better," she said, practically sticking her nose up into the air as she showed it off.

"Well, that suits you a lot better," Cana said, not the least bit jealous. She held her ring up to compare them. "But I think I like mine on me more."

"Hmph."

"If we're comparing rings," Lady Du said from somewhere behind Cana's shoulder, "then you should look at mine as well."

Cana turned around to see the old woman lifting one elegant hand. Sure enough, she had a flower ring as well, made with yellow diamonds set in red enameled gold to resemble a poinsettia.

"How many of them are there?" Cana asked, fascinated. Three generations of women who had married into the Du family, all wearing priceless rings that had been shaped like flowers.

"There is a fourth," Lady Du said. "The woman who marries your firstborn son will receive it. It is made in the style of a camellia."

Cana realized that the rings were seasonal. She had the summer ring, and Juno had the spring ring, whereas Lady Du held the winter ring.

"It'll be a while before I have a firstborn anything," Cana said, glancing at Bacchus. "We probably won't be married for several months when we return to Fiore."

"Pffft, you better get started, you still owe me ten grandbabies."

Cana looked at the woman who was to be her mother in law, and laughed, feeling lighter and freer than she had in her entire adult life.

Maybe this family was the best gift that Bacchus was giving her out of them all.

* * *

**Don't ask me where Jason writing the Fairy Tail Book of Elemental Magic came from. That wasn't in my notes. That was all my treacherous fingers and my subconscious at work. Still, it's totally something he'd do, and Rui is totally the sort of person who'd read _anything_ that might give her a magical edge.**


	19. Et in Arcadia ego

Four days later, the emperor died.

Sometimes Cana _hated_ it when her predictions were right.

Cana and Bacchus had been in the palace when word began to spread through the court. They had just been discussing their plans for returning home with Gildarts and Juno, when a grief stricken servant had burst into the sitting room, shouting the news.

Juno, whom Cana had never seen show any sign of weakness, crumbled visibly onto herself. Bacchus was there to catch her, as her stunned face showed the play of emotions that Cana couldn't even begin to fathom.

"He was supposed to live forever," Juno whispered. "How could this happen?"

Indeed, the entire mood of the nation had gone from one of chaotic joy to deep mourning in the space of a few hours. But the new emperor, the late ruler's first born son and the grandfather of Sheng Li, had been there when his father had finally shed this mortal coil, and said the old man had died with a smile on his face.

"For his favorite grand daughter had come home and fulfilled her promise to him," was all he would say in regards to why. Upon hearing this, Juno finally broke down into an eerie, keening wail that caused a shiver to run up Cana's spine.

* * *

Cana imagined that if the king of Fiore had died, Crocus might feel an awful lot like the Hidden City did now. All the colorful clothes from the party disappeared, and were replaced with stark white, the color of mourning in Quon. Everything was steeped in rituals to ward off bad spirits.

She talked about it with Bacchus, feeling a bit bored and full of cabin fever since they were bound to the castle or to his grandparent's house until the funeral. They were sitting together on the couch in their guest room. Even the curtains and linens had been changed out to white ones – the cloth looked very old, and Cana suspected it was recycled from funeral to funeral.

"His mausoleum was built when he ascended to the throne, over seventy years ago," Bacchus explained, and pointed out of their window toward the distant mountains. "The location had to be favorable, and they put a lot of time and money into it." He scratched his head thoughtfully. "He was a pretty popular emperor, and he actually asked them to keep it a bit more low key than some of his ancestors did, but there is a thing here... when you die, you want the most elaborate funeral your descendents can afford, to show 'face."

Cana thought back to her mother's funeral – a drab affair in the rain, with a simple coffin in the village cemetery. She had been sheltered by her aunts and hadn't quite realized what was happening until they placed her mother in the ground and threw the first clod of earth on the coffin. She had been given a single yellow flower to toss into the grave site herself, and once she did she had bawled uncontrollably for the rest of the day. It was only then she had known that her mama was really gone for good.

"Did you ever attend a Quonese funeral as a child?"

Bacchus nodded, and shifted from his position on the couch next to her. He looked ahead, trying to put his memories into words. "My paternal great grandfather died when I was five or six. As the direct male heir, I was formally in mourning for almost a year. My father and my grandfather were both in mourning for two and three years, since it's determined by rank and closeness to the deceased, and stuff." He shuddered. "I don't like thinking about death, Wild Thing. I'm not exactly a religious guy, and all this is just... too creepy for me."

She took his hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. "Me either. My mother's people had their own religion, but I left them too soon to really get involved. The dominant religion in Fiore has been Zentopian for a long time and all the funerals and things are still usually done through them, but I'm not really that big into it either."

She thought about his card reading – he really was afraid of death. But weren't they all on some level?

"I've killed men with my own hands," Bacchus said, flexing one mighty paw, staring at it. "We try not to – I don't think any of the registered guilds like having to explain a death – but sometimes in S Class missions it's inevitable."

She sighed and leaned forward onto him.

"I could use a drink," she said mournfully against his shoulder.

"So could I."

Alcohol was forbidden during the formal week of nationwide mourning. Cana had been intentionally dry for days anyway, but Bacchus was downright miserable when he was forced into sobriety. He kept giving the servants sad puppy eyes, hoping they'd disclose where all the wine and sake had gone, but it was thoroughly hidden, and he certainly couldn't ask his grandfather's family where they kept their stores without looking suspicious.

A knock at the door interrupted their quiet time, and Cana stood up and smoothed her simple white smock before she answered it.

It was Bik. "Miss Alberona? The princess requests your presence in her chambers. Also, Lord Du, you are expected in the gathering of the male descendents."

She glanced back at Bacchus, who grimaced. She gave him an encouraging nod, before they slipped to their respective meetings.

There were just some things in life you had to muddle through.

* * *

Before she made it to Venus's chambers, though, she was waylaid by Gildarts. She blinked when she saw her father – he'd bowed to pressure and was dressed in an all white suit without his cape. It was the first time she'd seen him in any color that wasn't metallic or drab.

"Baby girl," he said, and enveloped her in a hug, before pressing something into her hand. "I got you a present."

She glanced down at her hand, and saw that it was a tarot card. The design on the back was not quite the same as her own, but close, as if someone had drawn it from a description. She flipped it, and on the front was a series of Quonese characters.

"It's a translation card," he said, and pointed to the letters. "I found a mage in the outer city who specialized in picto-magic, and he worked with a magical linguist to implant the entire Quonese language into this card for you. Between the three of us, it seems to have worked." Cana knew her father could do basic card magic, since he'd created that dumb "Call Gildarts" card for emergencies for her, but she hadn't known he could handle the more advanced stuff, either. "I figured you'd need it, considering you're marrying into this crazy country." He smiled down at her. "I guess it's an engagement gift."

She stared at the card, blinking, not quite understanding. Then she let a little bit of her magic leak into the card, and suddenly the dozens of sing-song conversations around her melded into perfect, understandable Fioran.

"Dammit, papa," she said, tears welling into her eyes, "how come you're so friggin' good at everything?"

Bik waited patiently for them to hug once more, before Gildarts was gently tugged off toward the men's half of the castle. Although he wasn't formally related to the emperor the way Bacchus was, he was going along with them for the sake of propriety and to show a sense of solidarity with the country, as the main representative of Fiore and Fairy Tail.

She arrived at the princess's quarters only to see it filled with women sniffling prettily. Venus, for her part, was not crying, but simply sitting there, numbly, while her mother continued to bawl like a baby next to her.

She looked up when Cana entered, and the two shared a helpless look that spoke volumes alone. What could one possibly do or say to a woman who had just lost her grandfather? Cana sat down gingerly next to Venus, and clasped the older girl's hand while Juno grieved. She stayed there for several hours, trying to offer what comfort she could to Venus and Juno. Eventually, the other woman's sobs subsided and she dozed off. A handful of servants gently tucked her into bed, and Cana was able to talk with Venus briefly.

"The emperor made his announcement for my sake," Venus told her in Fioran. "Since his father died shortly after I arrived, there was an immediate rumor that I'm cursed and brought bad luck."

"That's awful!"

Venus grimaced. "So my great uncle decided to play up the aspect of reconciliation. Now mother feels responsible instead."

Cana refrained from saying what she thought – that Juno _was_, in most ways, responsible for everything happening as it did. But she held her tongue.

"What will you do now?"

Venus shrugged, blushing prettily. "What does any empress try to do when the line to the throne has been suddenly shorted? Try to extend it again." She pursed her lips. "Although the custom forbids... well..."

"Yeah," Cana said, saving the girl from embarrassment. She'd only been with her husband for a week, and she'd surely been virginal before her escape from Fiore. "Trust me, I'm not happy about the lack of sex, either."

Venus's blush grew even deeper, and Cana stifled a laugh – poor girl was probably thinking about her brother having sex and freaking out about it!

She left shortly after that, as Venus had been told she needed to prepare for that night's ceremonies. The royal family was going through every ritual in their book, it seemed.

* * *

Cana felt utterly useless while the various funeral arrangements went on throughout the castle. The translation card allowed her to hear and respond to words, but she had no idea of any of the cultural significance behind the emperor's death - the Quonese seemed to revere him as someone almost divine in nature. At some point, she gathered that a giant parade was being planned – a funeral procession. The male descendants would be in one part – that would include Bacchus – and all the female descendants in another. Cana and Gildarts would fall in third place, under the relatives by marriage and honored guests.

Food that had been so abundant during the festival was scarce as most of the castle was fasting or abstaining. Without the extra calories from alcohol, this meant that Cana had to finally break down and ask Bacchus where the hell the dining halls and kitchens were. He gave her a pained, sober grin – he was being forced to fast too – and sent her in the right direction with a pat on the butt, earning him a scandalized glance from the nearest servants. What, they weren't even supposed to flirt right now?

It was only on the third day after the Emperor's death that the procession was ready to take place. Everyone except the new emperor was wearing white – he was wearing a yellow over-robe. Cana saw a lot of palanquins gathered outside the palace, no doubt for the nobles and their family, but many others would be on foot like her.

She stood next to Gildarts, actually near the front of the "honored guests" line for once, with only a handful of visiting nobles in front of them and a long line of grim faced ambassadors behind them. Their jobs might be rather rocky for the next few years – Quon was an influential country on its side of the world, with only the Pergrande kingdom being larger and more powerful. In comparison, tiny little Fiore lacked land, money, and power, and only managed to maintain a strong global presence thanks to its insanely high magical output.

"You ready for this, baby girl?" Gildarts asked.

"If you mean ready for this to be over, that's a yes," Cana replied back quietly. "I miss Fairy Tail."

"Sometimes one must do things that one does not want to do," her father said, looking off at the mountain in the distance. "I hope we don't have to walk all the way over there, though. That could take us days."

Slowly, the procession shuffled off. They did walk for a long time, and Cana wished she'd gotten better shoes to replace her ruined heels, as her white slippers wore out quickly and she was surely covered in blisters. It was a matter of hours, however, instead of days, and eventually the great mass of people and palanquins stopped in front of a mausoleum build into an artificial hillside.

It was lovely here, Cana had to admit. The nearby mountain was in a good view, and almost looked like an eagle or something from this perspective, when she squinted. The sun was warm, the grass was green, and there was a stream not too far away that rolled past the mausoleum before joining a river down in the valley below the mountain.

All the male and female descendents put gifts into the tomb - food stuffs, clothing, jewelry, weapons, even a few clay representations of servants. The guests then came to the tomb to bow once before moving on.

It was late in the afternoon before the entire funeral procession was done, and then they'd have to walk all the way back. Cana's stomach growled in protest.

"Argh, how many more days of this do we have to go through?"

"Eh, it's a week of formal mourning, if I heard right," Gildarts said, and glanced at her bleeding feet. "You know, I can carry you if you need me to."

Cana snorted defiantly. She'd walk on her own two feet, blisters or no blisters.

* * *

Once the funeral procession was over, the castle's food stores returned somewhat to normal, although the color of the decorations continued to remain white. Cana found herself stuck in her room with a now happily drunk Bacchus, her belly full of good cooking, her damaged feet wrapped in clean bandages and antiseptic.

"Mother wants us to go home once we're free from formal mourning," Bacchus said, taking a long pull on a bottle of his grandfather's best sake. Cana smiled to herself at his flushed face - when had it become so dear to her?

"So, another few days then."

"Yeah," Bacchus said, and gave her one of the widest, cheesiest grins she'd seen on him yet. "And then we get to go home and get married!"

Cana let her eyes glitter underneath her lashes. "My my, a man who actually _wants_ to go through with the commitment aspect of a relationship," she teased.

"Wild Thing, I ain't never letting you go."

* * *

"I think I'm going to stay here a bit," Gildarts said casually, leaning against the door outside of his assigned quarters. "The magic system is much more controlled here - only the noble families really have strong magic, and they keep it locked up like a secret." The strongest mage in Fairy Tail shrugged, as if there weren't giant jewel signs in his eyes. "The merchants are just itching for a mercenary mage to come along and help them out with various tasks."

Cana laughed – it was so typical of her father. His wanderlust would never end, no matter how many excuses he wrapped it in.

"All right," she said, and gave him a half smirk, half glare. "But you better be back in Magnolia in time for my wedding!"

He handed her the payment for the mission, which was in the form of gold coins inside a sack. They would need to exchange them Harjuan. "Keep my share to help pay for the wedding," he said, and when she started to protest, he held up his hand to silence her. "Don't deny an old man the pleasure of paying for his only daughter's wedding," he warned, although his eyes twinkled. "I'll never get another chance again."

She hugged him, tears in her eyes.

When they went to say goodbye to the rest of Bacchus's family, Cana was even more surprised to find that Rui was coming with them.

"I've decided I want to move to Fiore," the girl said, although Cana suspected that she might find an excuse to hang around Zweng He's ship if she possibly could. She stared at her perfect fingernails coolly. "I've always been interested in the guild system, and I'd like to join one to see what it's like."

Cana thought for a few moments about which of the guilds might suit Rui. Not Fairy Tail - they wouldn't appreciate a magic mimic. Not Quattro Cerberus... she was too feminine for them. Blue Pegasus then came to mind – she was just their type, and Ichiya might be a good mentor for the shot mage, since their magic was not that different.

"I'll put in a good word for you at a guild I know, if you promise me you'll try to come up with your own magic there," Cana said. "Mimicking someone else's magic style is never as powerful as finding your own way." She thought about Fairy Glitter, and added, "And the original caster of that magic will always, always be more powerful than you at that spell."

And that was that. They said goodbye to Bacchus's grandparents, with the promise to come and visit upon the birth of Venus's first child. Juno had settled into a glum silence, possibly feeling the weight of the anguish she had caused the old man for the last twenty years for the first time. It almost broke Cana's heart to see the childlike matron so subdued.

Cana's final goodbyes were to Venus.

"Promise me you'll take care of Bacchus," Venus said, giving her a decidedly un-empress-like hug. "He's really just a big softie."

"Tch, I know that much." Cana gave her a squeeze too. "I always wanted to have a sister. I'm glad to know that I'll have one like you."

* * *

Zweng He and his crew met them all at the docks when it was finally time to leave. He blinked when he saw Rui – he had obviously not expected the girl as part of the return trip. Cana had to hide her smile when the girl fluttered her eyelashes at him and tapped her fan flirtatiously on his shoulder. She was interested in seeing how that panned out.

She got her answer just a few days into her voyage when she spotted Rui leaving the captain's quarters in the afternoon, a bit flushed and mussed looking. Cana, never one to shy away from prying into someone else's personal life, confronted Rui about it not long after, pulling her into the room she shared with Bacchus.

Rui sat on the bed, looking a bit embarrassed.

"To tell you the truth... I always saw Bacchus as a big brother. My younger sister was never even old enough to know him when she died, but he and I played together when we were little." The girl pulled her knees under her chin, looking distant. "It was his grandfather that wanted to re-arrange the marriage for us instead, but Juno refused. And when the whole exile business happened, it seemed that Lord Du and my parents almost gave up on the idea." She grinned. "I learned Fioran and tried to learn as much about Fiore as I could, because I was going to be sent there to find him... and hopefully marry him."

"But you fell in love with Zweng He instead," Cana probed, genuinely fascinated by the story.

Rui shrugged. "It was a hopeless love, or so I thought. My family is tied to the land and Zweng He is married to the sea. I was my parent's last hope to ensure their children would be part of the noble Du clan. Now, your children will be that instead."

Cana chose to ignore that last comment for now, but she had a feeling she'd have to explore the ramifications of it sooner or later.

"Zweng He isn't exactly a bad catch on his own merits, though."

"Oh, he's wonderful! He's strong and kind and brave. He saw me just like Bacchus did, though... like a kid sister."

Saw. Past tense.

Cana grinned and flipped her hair back. "So you seduced him."

Rui blushed, and nervously reached into her sleeve and pulled out a flask of something so strong that Cana could smell it across the cabin. "I wouldn't use that phrase. I, um, _persuaded_ him otherwise." She took a shot of the strong alcohol. A girl after Cana's own heart in many ways.

"Hmmm," Cana said, and leaned back onto the bed, thinking back to her first meeting with Bacchus. "I used to think Bacchus was an asshole, but he's spent the last six months or so _persuading_ me otherwise."

"But he's so strong and kind as well!" Rui protested.

Cana snorted. "Strong yes. Kind... when he feels like it. He's a dick the rest of the time."

Rui gasped a little at Cana's coarse language. "But I thought you were madly in love with him?"

"So? Part of loving someone, really truly loving them, is knowing all of them." Cana smiled gently to herself. "Knowing all their faults, and loving them because of who they really are, or despite it sometimes."

And suddenly Cana's own words hit her hard. She'd never really been this head over heels with someone before, and it was scary and wonderful all at once.

"He's a jerk," she repeated, and her smile widened, "but he's _my_ jerk."

* * *

The days passed quickly on the boat. Now that Cana could understand the Quonese floating around her, she felt less isolated. She and Bacchus, Juno, and Rui dined each night with Zweng He, and about midway on their journey a not so subtle rearrangement of chairs occurred and Rui was then sitting next to the captain.

After dinner, they ended up talking about various things, and naturally near the end the subject of the impending nuptials came up. Juno immediately took the ball and ran with it, much to Cana's chagrin.

"So we'll hold the Fioran-style wedding at the Dogwood Zentopian church," Juno said, freshly sketched wedding plans scattered on the table before them all. She was in full Tiger Mom mode, and would not be dissuaded from acting as both wedding coordinator and mother of the groom. Cana realized she must have felt a bit cheated, having to miss out on Venus's vow renewal, but that had been delayed for a year because of the funeral, to avoid cursing the union with bad luck. "After the wedding, the reception party can travel by carriage to Dogwood Estates -"

"We can just walk," Cana objected. "It's not that far."

"In a wedding dress? Up a hill?" Juno was doubtful. "No. You need a carriage – a big carriage with white horses."

Cana shared a pained glance with Bacchus, who looked even more miserable than she did.

"Mother," he said gently, "how about we give you leave to do whatever you want? Spend whatever you want. You can take care of everything. Cana and I will go along with whatever you think is best."

"No, no, no! You have to be part of the planning or else you'll be unhappy when everything isn't perfect!"

Cana sighed and reached for a glass of water. These last few days were going to be tough to get through without a drink.

She'd been dry for ten days now. A record, surely. She wanted to see how long she could keep that record going.

* * *

**Oof! I did not mean for this to take this long. I think because this chapter was just tying up loose ends, it took me a while to wrestle through everything that needed to be done without spending ten thousand needless words on it. **

**There is at least one more chapter, possibly two in this story. I'm finally all caught up with the anime, too. So glad to see Bacchus in full color! He sounds more or less exactly how I expected him to.**

**Thank you all so much for reading and for all the great reviews! And yes, K9 Informant, Quon is basically China in Earthland. Thanks for the tip about the inconsistency in his name - that's something I'll have to fix. **


	20. Happy Ending

**So, blame the website for the delay in this. I would have had it up a few days ago but it devoured all my line breaks on import. **

* * *

The voyage home passed without much event. Cana found herself content merely to exist, to enjoy the fresh wind and waves on her face, the beauty of the horizon and the sun filtering through the sea clouds onto the shining waves.

She was almost sorry to leave behind the treasure ship and Zweng He, but she was also getting homesick. She had wanted to leave the pile of overly-feminine Quonese clothing behind, but Bik had insisted that she take them, and she resigned herself to giving them away as souvenirs to the ladies of Fairy Tail. For the boys, she picked up decorative knives that most of them would appreciate. (Erza would be getting both gifts - she'd be miffed if she was not offered a knife, but even more miffed if she wasn't given a dress.) Thankfully, most of them wore similar sizes and the floppier gowns were sized down with belts. She'd had to request extra petite ones for Levy and Wendy, however.

She had half expected Rui to stay behind with the captain, but the girl was determined to explore the world now that she was free, and she had to say goodbye to him. Cana tried not to eavesdrop, but she heard Zweng He tell Rui that he would try to visit her at Blue Pegasus, or whichever guild she ended up at, as often as he could.

She was _not_ going to miss the little hellfire. She was _not, _she told herself. It would just be interesting to see how her magic grew when it was cultivated, not copied.

Still, Cana was just grateful to be home again. They had arrived at dawn, the sun just spilling over the eastern horizon. She breathed in the familiar air of Port Harjuan, eager to be back on her way to Fairy Tail. The rest of the Du family had been at the port to greet them; Zweng He had sent a pigeon ahead of time to inform them of their arrival.

When they finally disembarked, she, Bacchus, and Juno were buried by an excited flurry of Little Goddesses. It was Diana who noticed the ring on Cana's finger, and gave out a shriek of joy and excitement so loud Cana thought for a second they were being attacked.

"Hooray!" Diana said, and she was echoed by her sisters. Cana was reminded of the first time she had met them, flowing down the stairs and tripping over each other to attack their older brother. Now she was the one trying to fling them away, laughing.

While the girls were all glomping Cana, Juno took the opportunity to escape and find her husband, waiting for her on the end of the dock. Wordlessly, he embraced her and held her tightly for a few moments in silence.

"Grandpa died," she finally said, but her eyes were dry. "It is finished."

"Is Venus okay?" Jove asked, stroking her hair. Juno nodded, her eyes closed. She suddenly looked her age – a woman nearly fifty years old, tired, worn out.

"She seems happy enough."

Cana extricated herself from the flurry of girls to join Bacchus, near to Jove and Juno.

"Her vow renewals have been delayed for a year due to the passing of the Emperor," Bacchus said, filling in for Juno who had fallen silent again under the weight of her emotions. "We can go visit her then."

Jove nodded, and touched the circles under his eyes, now missing the distinctive dots. "I look forward to seeing my homeland again." He glanced at Cana and Bacchus, and his eyes landed on her shiny new ring. "I see you have been giving one of the heirlooms of the Du family," he said, his eyes twinkling and a smile tilting at the corners of his mouth. "So am I to presume we are to start planning the wedding?"

"Already on it," Cana said, her own mouth quirking into a half grin as well. "We're aiming for one month from now."

Talk of her son's impending nuptials brightened Juno's mood. "It will be the social occasion of the season," Juno said archly, a bit of the music returning to her voice. "We'll need to check the calendar of the vineyard, however, to make sure we've got a free weekend."

Cana gave Bacchus a hand squeeze and then left him with his family. They had a lot of unpacking to do, and so did she. She also had some _packing_ – but that could wait.

Cana's next stop was the currency exchange, and the exchange rates had been very favorable to her – the return of the future empress was more than enough to offset the death of the elderly emperor, and Quonese currency was always fairly high in demand on the world markets. She walked away with just under eleven million jewels. Not bad at all.

She headed back to Fairy Hills to change into a normal outfit, lugging a trunk on wheels carrying dozens of frilly dresses. Her hopes of sneaking in without being seen were dashed when she bumped into Levy in the foyer of the apartment complex. "Eeeeee!" Levy screamed loud enough to rouse everyone who was in the building, which was unfortunately too many people. "Cana's home!"

In a matter of minutes, Cana was surrounded by residents, who were glomping her just as much as the little goddesses had. And then it was Erza who saw the ring on her finger, and then all of them began to squeal at once.

"You're engaged?"

"Wow that's so cool Cana!"

"When is the wedding?"

It was almost an hour before Cana answered enough questions to satisfy them, and they began to drift off as they received their souvenir dresses from the court of Quon. She also paid Erza her cut of the mission reward, and there was a special gleam in the Titania's eyes as she counted up the large tally of jewels.

"I can finally order that special edition Mystic Knight armor from Heartz Krutz," Erza muttered to herself.

With a relieved sigh, and with her trunk considerably lightened, Cana went into her apartment. Aside from a faint layer of dust, it looked no worse for the wear from the month of neglect. She glanced at the pile of bottles in the corner, which were waiting to be taken out to the recycle bin at the edge of the apartment house's lot.

With her recently dry perspective, the sheer volume of bottles looked worse than she remembered.

"Damn," she muttered, running her hands through her hair. "I don't remember it being that bad."

And yet she knew that it must have been.

She was a lush, not an alcoholic. But presented with the evidence of her past drinking habits, it was pretty hard to tell the difference.

Cana sighed and started bagging up the bottles.

Well, only the_ empty_ ones.

* * *

She headed on to the guild after a good clean up of her home, and a shower and changed into normal Cana clothes. It had occurred to her that she was going to have to negotiate breaking the lease soon – she and Bacchus had talked about it, and they were going to live in his town house until they found a home they wanted to buy. The train stop midway between Magnolia and Dogwood had some nice suburban neighborhoods, and there might just be something within quick walking distance of the train station that they both liked.

Word had already reached the guild that she was home by the time she arrived. She was greeted just as enthusiastically as she was at Fairy Hills, especially by Lucy when the Stellar Spirit mage was handed her share of the mission reward.

"Rent for a year!" she said, tears of joy welling out of her eyes. "Even after we pay for the latest round of damages!"

After things calmed down, Cana sat down on her old bar stool with a happy sigh.

"Welcome back!" Mirajane said with one of her trademark brilliant smiles. Kinana also gave her a big smile from where she was drying glasses.

"It's good to be home," Cana said, leaning onto one elbow.

"What'll it be?" Mirajane hovered one hand in front of the wine glasses.

"Hot green tea, please," Cana said firmly.

The guild immediately fell silent, all of them staring in shock at their resident drinker asking for, of all things, _hot tea._ "I got used to it in Quon, all right?" Cana shouted at them, scowling.

Mirajane poured her a steaming mug of tea, and then leaned closer, studying Cana's face, looking for something.

"You really _are_ pregnant, aren't you?"

Cana sighed, staring at her ring.

"I could be," she admitted. She spun the ring around her finger. "I didn't exactly have time to pack before I was whisked halfway across the world, so no pills." Cana sipped delicately at the tea. "And we didn't use a backup method…" She coughed before she talked too much about her sex life in public, and gave a mocking glare to the bar maid. "This is really all your fault, you know. _You're_ the one that tried to hook us up to begin with!" She said the words lightly, but Mirajane really did deserve some of the credit for Cana's successful relationship.

Now, though, Mirajane looked at her tenderly, all joking aside, almost more motherly than sisterly.

"Is this really all right, Cana?" Mirajane asked, and Cana felt her heart squeeze. Mirajane _was _like everyone's older sister, in a way that always bossy Erza could not be. She was also one of Cana's oldest friends.

Mirajane's concerns, however well-intentioned, were not needed. "It's fine," Cana said, and squeezed the older girl's hand. "I'll go talk to Porlyusca just to be sure. And… we're getting married in a month." She cackled softly to herself as Mirajane's eyes immediately filled with stars.

"Can I be the maid of honor?" the barmaid asked dreamily. "A wedding, I'm so excited…"

"I shall be the maid of honor!" they heard Erza say behind them, her battle aura flaring. "I shall, and none other."

"Awwww, I was hoping it'd be me," they heard Lucy say. Cana resisted the urge to roll her eyes as the young women around her descended into a brawl that was normally reserved for the boys of the guild.

"I'm sorry, the position's already been filled by Venus du Ming," Cana said, her lips twitching as she thought of a solution to the predicament. "But since she's not able to even attend the wedding, you're all her honorary 'maid of honor' stand-ins."

"Oh, that's no good," Mirajane said with a gentle pout. Erza was at this point in her own little cosplay world, ex-quipping outfit after outfit asking for Cana's opinions on the dresses. Cana sighed and looked at her rowdy friends, but she was happy. She really _had_ missed Fairy Tail.

* * *

Porlyusca was able to confirm what Cana had suspected a few weeks later – she was, in all likelihood, pregnant. It was too soon to tell for sure, however. Far too soon to worry about her dress not fitting at the wedding or picking out baby clothes. First, she needed to make herself – and the baby – legitimate.

"That stupid puppy dog must be the father, of course," Porlyusca muttered. "I hate dogs."

Cana shrugged, not as unhappy over the news as she once thought she would have been. "We _are_ getting married. Although this was a bit sooner than I was expecting in a lot of ways." Just like Mirajane, the healer studied Cana's expression carefully.

"Are you truly going to be happy with him?" In answer, Cana held up a hand full of her tarot cards.

"When have these ever been wrong?

"Quite often," the healer said sharply, but sighed, resigned to Cana's acceptance of the situation. "Now you know, young lady, you cannot drink any alcohol while you're expecting."

Cana nodded. "I already dialed it down to nothing as practice. I haven't had a drink in two weeks." She paused, thoughtful. "I guess I wanted to so if I could actually pull it off more than anything. I'm just glad neither Gildarts nor my mother seemed to have any issues with alcoholism, or else these past few weeks might have been tough."

"I've wondered about you sometimes myself," Porlyusca said darkly. "You have to be more careful with your body, even after the baby is born. Human livers aren't made to withstand that kind of abuse." She snapped a paper bag open loudly, and stuffed a large handful of pills into it. Cana looked at her questioningly when she handed it to her.

"Vitamins," the old woman said. "Even if you're not drinking, you've never eaten properly." She bore down on Cana sternly. "You'll have to find a proper midwife in town, however. I don't want to deal with you on a monthly basis for the next year and I'm certainly not willing to bring a child into this world."

"Awww, you really do care," Cana said, mocking her.

"I care about the future of Fairy Tail!" Porlyusca said, practically hissing. "Another human on this wretched planet means nothing to me!"

Sometimes Cana really loved the prickly old woman, although she'd never admit it in a hundred years.

* * *

In the end, she ended up with four "honorary maid of honor stand-ins," another dozen bridesmaids, and four flower girls. It was crazy and over the top and Cana was damn well pleased with how it all turned out. The groomsmen were primarily from Quattro Cerberus, but she had twisted the arms of Natsu, Gray, and Elfman and they had agreed as well.

It was an outdoor wedding, surrounded by the peaceful vineyards of Dogwood Estates. Her formal colors were white and green, but the theme of the wedding was "seasons" and so all the decorations were incredibly colorful. Instead of just bride and groom sides, they had Fairy Tail on the left side, and Quattro Cerberus on the right side. The two guilds rivaled each other in size these days and all the seats were full.

They'd also invited all the friends they'd made together as a couple – there was Susan and Brett from the university, Tony and the crew from the restaurant, Zweng He and Rui along with the other guests from Blue Pegasus, as well as guests from all corners of Fiore. She even spied Jellal up in the rafters, watching Erza in her role as the "Fall" honorary Maid of Honor. Lucy was Spring, Levy was Summer, and Mirajane was Winter. (Juvia accused Mirajane of having designs on Gray after she found out, at which point the demon had to reminder her that Gray was like another little brother to her.)

Cana really didn't pay much attention to the ceremony itself. After Gildarts walked her up the aisle, blubbering like a toddler himself while mumbling stuff about his baby girl leaving him, her eyes were only on Bacchus.

The words they had chosen were short and sweet. Makarov presided over the ceremony, wearing his formal robes as a Wizard Saint. The old man had tears in his eyes as he watched one of the children of his guild pass into a new stage of her life.

"Do you take this man as your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do." She grinned up at him.

"And do you take this woman as your lawfully wedded wife?"

"You bet."

"Please exchange your rings as a token of your affection."

Bacchus slid the heirloom ring onto her left hand, and she placed a new one that had been designed to match it upon his hand. Now he was marked as hers for life.

"You may now kiss." Cheers erupted from the Quattro Cerberus side, including a particularly rowdy _"Wild Four!"_ from his guild mates.

She loved this man. She really did. And because alcohol was such an important part of their world, she took that opportunity to smash a bottle of champagne against the podium, christening their marriage with the precious liquid. They ran down the aisle, laughing as the members of both guilds pelted them with bird seed.

* * *

Hours later, when they were on their way to the tropical islands of Hu'Wei via a cruise ship for their honeymoon, Bacchus confronted her about her sobriety.

"What have you been drinking all night, babe? You're not even tipsy." He was sprawled out heavily on his lawn chair, nearing the ceiling of his blood alcohol limit. "And you keep ordering fruit trays."

"Virgin mimosas," she said with a shrug, leaning back into her chair. "And water all day. And tea. It's been a dry day for me. Well, aside from the small taste of the champagne from our toast, anyway." One small sip should not hurt the baby, Juno had told her.

The baby… oh, _that's_ right. No wonder he was confused.

"We're having a baby," she said, almost casually, staring at her nails, as if commenting about the weather. She heard her new husband fall off his chair in shock, and couldn't help but smile to herself as he struggled drunkenly to get the chair upright and get himself back on it as if nothing had happened.

"When?" he managed to choke out. "_How?_"

"I like to think it was that time under the tree when we first arrived in Quon," she said smugly, remembering his proclamation that they needed to start on grandkids for his mother. "As to the _how_, surely I don't need to explain to the legendary, lecherous Drunken Falcon where babies come from."

Bacchus found this so funny that he laughed hard enough to knock him off his chair again. Cana rolled her eyes but couldn't help but smile herself as she watched him laugh so hard tears came out from his eyes. The rest of her life was going to be full of love and laughter, just like this.

And in eight months or so, more drinks. There were still lots and lots more drinks to come, too.

* * *

**We're just about done here, folks. I have an epilogue in mind, but this is the final chapter of the story. Whew! Only the second novel length one I've ever completed, and frankly a lot better than my first novel. (I made it to round 2 of the Amazon Breakout Novel contest with that, but didn't make round three. Boo hiss! I may say screw it and toss it up on CreateSpace or whatever it's called anyway, for the low low price of 99 cents or something. I'll think about it.) **

**I've got a new story idea bubbling around in my head, but that's a bit more traditional with some tasty NaLu. Look for the first chapter in the next few weeks, and stay tuned for the epilogue to this story! (It's more like an _omake_ really.)**


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